Posted on 09/18/24
| News Source: Arutz-7
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby reiterated on Wednesday that the United States was not involved in the explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon over the last two days.
“What I can tell you is we were not involved in yesterday’s incidents or today’s in any way, and I don’t have anything more to share,” Kirby told reporters during a White House press briefing, as quoted by CNN.
Pressed in a follow-up exchange with another reporter, Kirby would not say if Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin received a heads up on Wednesday’s attack, which saw scores of walkie-talkies explode across Lebanon, during a Tuesday call with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Kirby repeatedly declined to confirm on the record that Israel was behind the electronics attacks, telling reporters, “I’m not going to get into intelligence assessment, estimates and assessments from here.”
He acknowledged the administration is concerned over the prospect of tensions escalating in the region, saying the US does not believe “additional military operations” are the solution. He pointed to diplomacy instead.
The comments follow the explosions of walkie-talkies in the Dahieh area of Beirut, which reportedly killed at least 14 people and injured approximately 450.
Those explosions came one day after dozens of pagers worn by Hezbollah terrorists exploded in the same area, which is a Hezbollah stronghold.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters on Tuesday that Washington was not aware in advance and had no involvement in the pager explosions.
Miller declined to comment on widespread suspicion that the blasts were carried out by Israel and would only say the US message to Iran, which is the main backer of Hezbollah, remained unchanged.
"We would urge Iran not to take advantage of any incident to try to add further instability and to further increase tensions in the region," Miller stated.