ALT First, a few misapprehensions should be cleared away. This was not, as some have charged, a “mass killing” or a “terrorist” attack. In many ways, it was the opposite. It is hard to imagine a more discretely targeted attack—i.e., one aimed at just the objects of the assault, minimizing the chances of harming anybody else.

ALT The hidden explosives were very small, 3 grams (about a tenth of an ounce), minimizing the chances of injuring anyone except the people carrying the pagers. Initial news reports said nine people were killed. Hezbollah spokesmen said that six of those were Hezbollah fighters—meaning that the simultaneous explosions killed just three civilians. (The death toll has since risen to 12, but it is unclear how many of those were fighters.) About 2,800 people are said to be injured, but it is not known how many of those are Hezbollah—or how serious the injuries are. Two of those killed are said to be children. The operation tampered with about 5,000 pagers, though a smaller number, still in the thousands, blew up. Some of the others might have malfunctioned or not been turned on. Then, on Wednesday morning, a wave of blasts occurred in Lebanon, as Hezbollah walkie-talkies suddenly exploded. According to Lebanese officials, at least nine people were killed and 300 were injured.