Associated Press Runs Sympathetic Story Checking On Hezbollah Terrorists Injured In ‘Grim Beeper’ Operation

The Associated Press published a sympathetic feature Wednesday profiling Hezbollah fighters and affiliates injured in a covert Israeli operation that detonated rigged pagers inside Lebanon.

The article, published nearly a year after the Sept. 17, 2024, attack, centers on six Hezbollah personnel or relatives injured when thousands of pagers exploded simultaneously in homes, hospitals, and frontline positions across the country. Israel has claimed responsibility for the operation, which it reportedly carried out by infiltrating the group’s supply chain and selling doctored devices through shell companies.

Hezbollah confirmed that the majority of the casualties were its members, with others being family or support staff. The attack killed 12 people, including two children, and injured more than 3,000, according to Hezbollah and Lebanese officials.

AP interviewed survivors who described the moment the pagers detonated. Mahdi Sheri, a 23-year-old Hezbollah fighter, said he heard his pager beep, picked it up, and followed the on-screen prompt, “Press OK.”

The device exploded in his hands, blinding him in one eye and leaving his bed soaked in blood. Sheri received treatment in Syria and Iraq, where doctors removed shrapnel and installed a prosthetic eye. He later married his fiancée over a video call from the hospital, saying, “Nothing stood in our way.”

Zeinab Mestrah said the hospital resembled a “slaughterhouse” as families screamed out names to identify loved ones.

“People didn’t recognize each other. Families were shouting out their relatives’ names to identify them,” Mestrah told AP.