Thousands of Israelis have received threatening text messages, purportedly from Hezbollah-linked sources, following a series of explosions that rocked Lebanon, killing 37 people and injuring over 3,000, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. The explosions, which occurred in two waves on Tuesday and Wednesday, reportedly affected thousands of pagers and hand-held radios used by Hezbollah members.
The text messages, some of which contained suspicious links, instructed many Israelis to seek bomb shelters. Posing as Israel’s Home Front Command, which regularly issues safety alerts, the messages were sent in both Hebrew and English. However, the Hebrew used was often incorrect, and the tone of the texts was highly threatening.
One message, reportedly sent by a user identified as “SyHaNasrala”—a likely reference to Hezbollah leader Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah—read, “Say goodbye to your loved ones, but don’t worry. You’ll hug them in hell in a few hours.” Another ominous text in English stated, “If you want to live, leave. If you want to stay, go to hell.”
Despite the texts, the Israeli military clarified that no official alerts had been issued, and no instruction to take shelter was given. Israeli authorities are now investigating whether the messages were sent by Iranian-linked actors, as reported by public broadcaster Kan.
In response to the explosions, Hezbollah vowed revenge, with Nasrallah addressing the incident in a speech on Thursday. The explosions, which claimed the lives of two children among the 37 victims, have heightened fears of further escalation between Hezbollah and Israel.
In a precautionary move, the Israeli military redeployed the 98th Division, a major unit comprising 10,000 to 20,000 paratroopers and commandos, from the Gaza Strip to northern Israel on Wednesday, as tensions along the border continue to rise.