Israel’s Mossad planted explosives in 5,000 pagers used by Hezbollah before a series of detonations across Lebanon, sources told Reuters. The blasts killed nine people and injured nearly 3,000, including Hezbollah fighters and Iran’s envoy to Beirut.
According to a Lebanese security source, the pagers came from Taiwan’s Gold Apollo brand, though they were manufactured by another company, BAC. Gold Apollo clarified that they only licensed the brand name and had no role in the design or manufacturing.
Hezbollah, backed by Iran, vowed to retaliate against Israel, calling the incident a “massacre.” Israeli officials declined to comment on the explosions.
Sources revealed that Mossad modified the pagers at the production level, making it almost impossible to detect the hidden explosives. A coded message activated 3,000 of the devices simultaneously, causing widespread destruction and marking one of the group’s worst security breaches.
Hezbollah, already involved in clashes with Israel over Gaza, has been using pagers to avoid phone tracking. However, the group’s reliance on these devices led to devastating consequences, with injured members suffering severe wounds.
The blast underscores Israel’s deep penetration into Hezbollah’s operations, experts say. Despite the escalating tensions, analysts don’t see this as a sign of an imminent ground war.