According to the American newspaper, The New York Times, Israel carried out its operation against Hezbollah on Tuesday by hiding explosive materials inside a new batch of pagers manufactured in Taiwan, which were imported into Lebanon, according to American officials and others familiar with the operation.
The officials added that the pagers, ordered by Hezbollah from the Gold Apollo company in Taiwan, were tampered with before reaching Lebanon. Most of the devices were the company’s AP924 model, although three other Gold Apollo models were included in the shipment.
Two officials mentioned that the explosive materials, weighing between one to two ounces, were planted next to the battery in each pager. A remote-controlled switch was also placed to trigger the explosives.
At 3:30 PM in Lebanon, the pagers received a message that appeared to come from Hezbollah’s leadership, according to officials. The message activated the explosives, as reported by the newspaper.
Three officials stated that the devices were programmed to emit a beeping sound for several seconds before exploding.
Independent cybersecurity experts who analyzed footage of the attacks confirmed that the power and speed of the explosions were the result of a specific type of explosive material.
Mikko Hyppönen, a research specialist at WithSecure, a cybersecurity firm, and a Europol cybercrime advisor, said: “It’s likely that these pagers were modified in some way to cause these types of explosions – the size and strength of the blast suggest it wasn’t just the battery.”
Keren El-Azari, a cybersecurity analyst and Israeli researcher at Tel Aviv University, commented that the attacks specifically targeted Hezbollah, where it was most vulnerable.
El-Azari said, “This strike was a blow to them, as it took out a central communication tool. We’ve seen these types of devices, pagers, targeted before, but not with this level of sophistication.”
Several officials mentioned that over 3,000 pagers were ordered from Gold Apollo in Taiwan, and Hezbollah distributed these devices to its members across the country, with some reaching Hezbollah allies in Iran and Syria.
