Israel was behind the pager attacks in September, which killed at least 39 Hezbollah members and injured nearly 3,000 people, including Hezbollah fighters and Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the rare admission at a cabinet meeting on Sunday. According to reports, Netanyahu said the pager operation was carried out despite the opposition of senior officials in the defense establishment.

On September 16 and 17, thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies rigged with explosives detonated in a coordinated strike among Hezbollah members across Lebanon and parts of Syria.

Hezbollah leaders condemned the attack as a breach of their network and vowed to retaliate. Lebanon has filed a complaint with the United Nations over the incident, calling it an “egregious war against humanity.”

The September attack came amid escalating violence between Israel and Hezbollah following Hamas’s October 7 assault on southern Israel. Since then, Hezbollah has increased rocket and drone strikes on Israel’s northern border, leading Israel to evacuate thousands of residents from nearby towns. Israel has also conducted additional airstrikes targeting Hezbollah strongholds, aiming to reduce the group’s influence and protect northern Israeli communities.