Netanyahu admits Israel behind pager attack in Lebanon

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged for the first time he green-lighted an operation in September where thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies exploded in Lebanon and Syria.

“The pager operation and the elimination of (Hezbollah leader Hassan) Nasrallah were carried out despite the opposition of senior officials in the defence establishment and those responsible for them in the political echelon,” Netanyahu said in a cabinet meeting, according to local media reports.

On 17 September, thousands of explosions struck the pagers of Hezbollah members, and their walkie-talkies the next day.

The blasts killed 37 people and injured almost 3,000 according to Lebanese health authorities.

Lebanon has filed a complaint against Israel at the UN's Labour Organisation as a result of the attacks, alleging that workers were among those killed.

Israel had not yet confirmed its role in the operation, but the country's then-defence minister Yoav Gallant said after the explosions that the IDF, "brings excellent achievements, together with the Shin Bet, together with Mossad, all the bodies and all the frameworks and the results are very impressive results.”

Meanwhile, Israeli strikes killed dozens of people in Lebanon and Gaza on Sunday, as Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced he had spoken to president-elect Donald Trump.

The airstrike killed at least 23 people, including seven children, in the Aalmat village north of Beirut.

Israeli military announced a plan to hit a Hezbollah site used to store weapons, and that the strike was under review.

Legislator Raed Berro hit back with claims that no Hezbollah assets or staff were in the building targeted, and that the strike unfairly targeted civilians.

On Monday morning, a