Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted on Sunday that he had greenlighted a deadly attack targeting Hezbollah in September, in which thousands of handheld pagers or walkie-talkies exploded across Lebanon and parts of Syria.
Netanyahu said at a weekly cabinet meeting that he wanted to launch the pager operation.
The pager explosion and the assassination of former Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah were carried out despite the opposition of some senior officials in the defense establishment and the political echelon in charge of them, Netanyahu said.
According to Israel's leading newspaper Yediot Achronot and other media outlets, this can be seen as Netanyahu claiming responsibility for the attack, which sharply escalated cross-border hostilities between Israel and Lebanon that have persisted since October 2023.
The operation, conducted in two waves on September 17 and 18, involved the detonation of thousands of explosive-laden pagers and hundreds of walkie-talkies across Lebanon and Syria, aiming at Hezbollah members. At least 42 people were killed and more than 3,400 injured during the attack, according to Lebanese reports.
Israeli PM claims responsibility for deadly pager attack on Hezbollah
Israeli PM claims responsibility for deadly pager attack on Hezbollah
Israeli PM claims responsibility for deadly pager attack on Hezbollah
The China-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Forum has added new dimensions to the China-LAC comprehensive cooperative partnership and injected fresh momentum into building a China-LAC community with a shared future, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, chaired the fourth ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC Forum held in Beijing on Tuesday.
Foreign ministers or representatives from CELAC member countries and heads of relevant regional organizations gathered in China's capital to discuss common development goals and advance the building of a China-LAC community with a shared future.
Marking the 10th anniversary of the Forum's official launch, Wang noted that the past decade has witnessed frequent high-level exchanges, fostering a strong consensus on unity and development. He said these efforts have guided China-CELAC relations into a new phase of equality, mutual benefit, innovation, and openness while delivering tangible benefits to the people.
"After a decade of meticulous cultivation, the forum mechanism has grown increasingly mature and has become an important platform for equal dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Latin America. It has added new dimensions to the China-LAC comprehensive cooperative partnership and injected fresh momentum into building a China-LAC community with a shared future," Wang said.
Speaking on strengthening solidarity between China and Latin America, Wang said the two sides would firmly support each other's core interests, deepen economic cooperation, promote peace and security, and continue to enhance cultural exchange and mutual learning while jointly upholding international fairness and justice.
He added that China and Latin America have set a new example for global relations and have driven greater cooperation across the Global South, he added.
Lamin O'Brian Newton, government senator of Antigua and Barbuda, said, "I'm very optimistic and excited. Based on what I've heard, it shows the collaboration and cooperation of all the member countries that we intend to strengthen our bilateral arrangements with China. I think that with all the trade wars and the tariff wars that we're seeing, this is extremely important for all the countries meeting here today."
Uruguayan Foreign Minister Mario Lubetkin said, "It's very important we recognize China, when we say we, we talk about the 33 countries that are here, we recognize China like a serious partner in which we can work together very concrete."
The ministerial meeting witnessed the adoption of two key documents: the Beijing Declaration, which reaffirms both sides' commitment to peace, development, and cooperation, and a joint action plan outlining specific initiatives in technology, trade, investment, infrastructure, and Belt and Road cooperation.
China-CELAC Forum boosts partnership, fosters shared future between China, Latin America: FM
