The head of Israel's Mossad foreign intelligence agency has called the exploding pagers and walkie talkies operation against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and Syria a “turning point of the war,” which gave Israel momentum to deal a heavy blow to Hezbollah.

The devices used by hundreds of Hezbollah members exploded almost simultaneously in two waves on Sept. 17 and 18. The attack killed at least 12 people — including two young children — and wounded thousands more.