News Brief
How Mossad's Explosive Pagers Delivered A Devastating Blow To Terror Group Hezbollah's Network In Lebanon
Pic via X
Israel’s Mossad spy agency reportedly planted small amounts of explosives inside 5,000 Taiwan-made pagers ordered by the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah months before the devices detonated on Tuesday (17 September).
The explosions, which occurred across Lebanon, killed at least nine people and injured nearly 3,000 others, including Hezbollah terrorists and Iran’s envoy to Beirut.
This attack targeted the terror group's infrastructure, with pagers being a vital communication tool within Hezbollah.
Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, has vowed retaliation against Israel for the attack, though the Israeli military has neither denied nor accepted its involvement in the strike.
The attack is believed to have been months in the making, news agency Reuters reported citing sources.
Hezbollah had ordered the 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo, and the devices were brought into the country earlier this year.
The model identified as AP924 can receive and display text messages but does not support telephone calls, making it a low-tech tool that Hezbollah fighters have relied on to avoid Israeli location-tracking.
However, the Mossad reportedly modified the devices at the production stage.
When a coded message was sent, around 3,000 pagers simultaneously exploded, causing widespread destruction.
Each pager contained up to three grams of explosives, which went undetected by Hezbollah for months.
Hezbollah officials were left reeling from what is being called their biggest security breach in decades.
The explosion left many terrorists and civilians hospitalised with severe injuries, with footage showing wounded individuals with missing fingers, facial injuries, and gaping wounds around the hips where the pagers were worn.
The blasts occurred during a period of heightened conflict between Israel and Hezbollah following the Gaza war.
Hezbollah has been engaged in cross-border exchanges with Israel since a missile barrage launched by the group on 8 October.
While Hezbollah has stated it does not seek a wider conflict, the situation has escalated with daily missile and rocket exchanges and Israeli airstrikes deep into Lebanese territory.
