Northern residents on Hezbollah pager explosions: "An opening blow for the war, keep going"

The Fighters for the North Forum, which represents the families of residents and evacuees from the north since the beginning of the war, calls on Israel to exploit the recent mass pager explosion to intensify the war at a time when Hezbollah is reeling with thousands of wounded.

The Forum said that "we expect this to be the opening blow of a war in the north and not another pinpoint action, no matter how impressive. This is an opportunity we cannot miss under any circumstances."

According to them, "it is time to entirely change the balance of power in the north. It is time to give hope to the residents of the conflict zone and the State of Israel. It's time to say enough to the intolerable lives of the children of the conflict zone. It's time to return us home with great strength and an outstretched hand."

Hezbollah issued an official declaration a short time ago (Tuesday), blaming Israel for the mass explosion of Hezbollah pagers which has killed at least nine and wounded about three thousand, according to Lebanese sources.

In the statement, Hezbollah said that "following investigations we conducted, we assign responsibility for what happened to the Israeli enemy. The criminal enemy will pay a fitting price for this aggression."

In a stunning development, thousands of Hezbollah operatives were injured today when their communication devices exploded simultaneously across Lebanon.

The incident, which also appears to have extended to Damascus, Syria, where a vehicle explosion injured four, has sent shockwaves through the region.

According to Lebanese security sources, the explosions were caused by a breach in Hezbollah's internal communication networks. The Wall Street Journal reported that the affected devices were a recent model, distributed only in the last few days. A Hezbollah source stated that some operatives felt their devices heating up and discarded them before they exploded. Reports indicate that the devices received a message prior to detonation.

The terrorist organization and Lebanon's Ministry of Health have urgently called for operatives to abandon their communication devices. A Hezbollah official told Reuters that this incident represents the largest security breach to date for the organization.