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Former Obama CIA Chief Leon Panetta Condemns Pager Attack Against Hezbollah as ‘Terrorism’
Former US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta speaks on Day 4 of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, US, Aug. 22, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mike Segar
Former CIA Director Leon Panetta on Sunday condemned last week’s sophisticated attack on communications devices used by members of the Iran-backed terrorist organization Hezbollah across its home base of Lebanon as “terrorism.”
“I don’t think there’s any question that it’s a form of terrorism,” said Panetta, who also served as secretary of defense under former US President Barack Obama.
While speaking to CBS News, Panetta expressed fear that terrorism is “going right into the supply chain.”
“And when you have terror going into the supply chain, it makes people ask the question: ‘What the hell is next?’” Panetta added.
Last Tuesday, thousands of Hezbollah members were seriously wounded when the pagers they use to communicate exploded.
The next day, hand-held radios used by Hezbollah detonated in a second round of blasts. The walkie-talkies were said to be part of Hezbollah’s emergency communications systems for use during a conflict with Israel, which borders southern Lebanon.
At least 37 people were killed, and about 3,000 were wounded in the explosions over both days. Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani was among those injured by the pager explosions and reportedly lost an eye.
Experts and several media outlets have said that Israeli intelligence was behind the explosions with a sophisticated, long planned operation, although Israel has neither publicly confirmed nor denied responsibility. Iran and Hezbollah have blamed the Jewish state and vowed revenge.
“This is a tactic that has repercussions. And we really don’t know what those repercussions are going to be,” Panetta said on Sunday. “The forces of war are largely in control right now.”
“I think it’s going to be very important for the nations of the world to have a serious discussion about whether or not this is an area that everybody has to focus on, because if they don’t try to deal with it now, mark my word, it is the battlefield of the future,” he added.
Hezbollah — which for decades has operated as Iran’s chief terrorist proxy, wielding significant political and military influence in Lebanon — has battered Israel with barrages of rockets, missiles, and drones since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across Israel’s southern region. More than 60,000 Israelis have been forced to flee their homes as a result of the Hezbollah bombardment.
Last Monday, Israel’s security cabinet expanded its war goals to include returning the displaced Israelis from the north.
Panetta has been notably critical of Israel’s defensive military operations in Hamas-ruled Gaza over the past year. The former CIA chief, for example, took a swipe at Israel after an errant airstrike killed World Central Kitchen aid workers in the Palestinian enclave, saying it was “not surprising” that the aid workers were mistakenly killed because “the Israelis usually fire and then ask questions.”
Israel says it has gone to unprecedented lengths to try and avoid civilian casualties in Gaza, noting its efforts to evacuate areas before it targets them and to warn residents of impending military operations with leaflets, text messages, and other forms of communication.
Panetta’s condemnation of last weel’s pager attack was met with widespread criticism.
“This is the thinking within the Obama/Biden/Harris universe — it empowers the real terrorists and places America and its allies at real risk,” former US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman wrote on X/Twitter.
“What an absolute doofus,” terrorism expert Max Abrahms added.
The post Former Obama CIA Chief Leon Panetta Condemns Pager Attack Against Hezbollah as ‘Terrorism’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.