Israel Mossad spy agency orchestrated a significant operation by planting explosives inside 5,000 Hezbollah pagers imported by the Lebanese group months before detonations. This operation marks an unprecedented breach of Hezbollah security, leading to the detonation of thousands of Hezbollah pagers across Lebanon, resulting in the tragic loss of nine lives and injuring nearly 3,000 others, including members of the group and Iran’s envoy to Beirut.
The Lebanese security source revealed that the pagers originated from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo; however, the company stated it did not manufacture the devices, claiming they were produced by a firm called BAC, which holds a license to use its brand. Iran-backed Hezbollah has vowed retaliation against Israel, which has declined to comment on the blasts.
In a statement, Hezbollah asserted that “the resistance will continue, like any other day, its operations to support Gaza, its people and its resistance which is a separate path from the harsh punishment that the criminal enemy (Israel) should await in response to Tuesday’s massacre.”
The plot seems to have been in the works for several months, as indicated by various sources. The senior Lebanese security source noted that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 beepers from Gold Apollo, which was reportedly brought into the country earlier this year. Hsu Ching-Kuang, the founder of Gold Apollo, mentioned that the pagers involved in the explosion were made by a European company authorized to use the firm’s brand, although he could not confirm the name of the company.
The company identified BAC as the manufacturer but did not disclose its location. Hsu clarified, “The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it,” during a press conference in New Taipei, Taiwan, on Wednesday. The senior Lebanese source recognized a model of the pager, an AP924, which, like other pagers, wirelessly receives and displays text messages but lacks the ability to make phone calls. Gold Apollo confirmed in a statement that the AR-924 model was produced and sold by BAC.
“We only provide brand trademark authorization and have no involvement in the design or manufacturing of this product,” the statement read.
Hezbollah fighters have utilized pagers as a low-tech communication method to evade Israeli location tracking, according to two sources familiar with the group’s operations. However, the senior Lebanese source indicated that the devices had been modified by Israel’s spy agency “at the production level.”
“The Mossad injected a board inside the device that contains explosive material that receives a code. It’s very hard to detect through any means, even with any device or scanner,” the source stated. The source elaborated that 3,000 of the Hezbollah pagers exploded when a coded message was sent, simultaneously triggering the explosives.
Another security source informed Reuters that the new pagers concealed up to three grams of explosives, which had gone “undetected” by Hezbollah for months. Hsu remarked that he was unaware of how the pagers could have been rigged to explode.
Israeli officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters. Analysis of images of the destroyed pagers showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with devices made by Gold Apollo.
Following the attack, Hezbollah is reportedly in shock, as many fighters and civilians were injured or killed. A Hezbollah official, speaking anonymously, described the detonation as the group’s “biggest security breach” since the onset of the Gaza conflict on October 7. “This would easily be the biggest counterintelligence failure that Hezbollah has experienced in decades,” said Jonathan Panikoff, the former U.S. deputy national intelligence officer for the Middle East.
In February 2024, Hezbollah had devised a war plan to address gaps in the group’s intelligence infrastructure. With around 170 fighters already killed in targeted Israeli strikes in Lebanon, including a senior commander and a top Hamas official, the stakes were high.
In a televised address on February 13 2024, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah warned supporters that their phones posed a greater risk than Israeli spies, urging them to break, bury, or lock their devices in an iron box. Instead, the group chose to distribute pagers to its members across various branches, from fighters to medics in its relief services.
The explosions resulted in numerous injuries among Hezbollah members, as footage from hospitals reviewed by Reuters showed wounded individuals with facial injuries, missing fingers, and severe wounds on their hips, where the pagers were likely carried. “We really got hit hard,” the senior Lebanese security source said, having direct knowledge of the group’s investigation into the explosions.
The pager blasts occurred amid rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, who have been engaged in cross-border skirmishes since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict. While the war in Gaza has dominated Israel’s focus since the October 7, 2023 assault by Hamas-led militants, concerns about a potential regional conflict involving the U.S. and Iran have escalated, especially along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon.
Following the October 7, 2024 missile barrage by Hezbollah, the situation has deteriorated, with daily exchanges of rocket and artillery fire, alongside Israeli airstrikes deep into Lebanese territory. Hezbollah has stated it does not desire a wider war but is prepared to respond if Israel provokes one.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant informed U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday that the opportunity for a diplomatic resolution with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in southern Lebanon is diminishing. Experts, however, do not interpret the pager blasts as an indication that an Israeli ground offensive is on the horizon. Instead, they view the situation as evidence of Israel’s deep infiltration of Hezbollah.
Also Read: Pakistan Reaffirms Support for Middle East De-escalation
“It demonstrates Israel’s ability to penetrate its adversaries in an extraordinarily dramatic manner,” stated Paul Pillar, a veteran of the U.S. intelligence community with 28 years of experience, primarily at the CIA.
