‘Israel planted explosives in pagers sold to Hezbollah’
NEW YORK ꟷ Israel carried out its operation against Hezbollah on Sept. 17 by hiding explosive material within a new batch of Taiwanese-made pagers imported into Lebanon, according to American and other officials briefed on the operation.
The pagers, which Hezbollah had ordered from Gold Apollo in Taiwan, had been tampered with before they reached Lebanon, according to some of the officials.
Most were the company’s AP924 model, though three other Gold Apollo models were included in the shipment.
However, Taiwan’s Gold Apollo said it did not make the pagers that were used in the detonations, Reuters reported.
The company’s founder Hsu ChingKuang said the pagers used in the explosion were made by a company in Europe that had the right to use the Taiwanese company’s brand.
The explosive material, as little as 28 grams, was implanted next to the battery in each pager, two of the officials said.
A switch was also embedded that could be triggered remotely to detonate the explosives.
At 3:30 p.m. in Lebanon, the pagers received a message that appeared as though it was coming from Hezbollah’s leadership, two of the officials said.
Instead, the message activated the explosives.
The devices were programmed to beep for several seconds before exploding, according to three of the officials.
The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity given the sensitive nature of the operation.
Earlier in 2024, Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah strictly limited the use of cell phones, which he saw as increasingly vulnerable to Israeli surveillance, according to some of the officials as well as security experts.
More than 3,000 pagers were ordered from Gold Apollo in Taiwan, several of the officials said.
Hezbollah distributed the pagers to its members throughout Lebanon, with some reaching Hezbollah allies in Iran and Syria.