Revealing Statements from Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary-General on “Pager” Explosives and Internal Breach

Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary-General, Sheikh Naim Qassem, has disclosed new details about the ongoing investigation into the major security breach that led to the assassinations of former Secretaries-General Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safi al-Din, as well as the infamous “Pager” bombings.

In an interview with Al Mayadeen TV, Qassem confirmed that the party formed a central investigative committee that is still pursuing its work, alongside several subcommittees, to uncover the full circumstances surrounding what he described as a “serious breach” involving the pager devices used in the assassinations.

He stated that the investigation has reached clear and “entirely evident” general conclusions but is not yet complete. Qassem indicated that the final findings would be presented publicly once the committee finishes its work but ruled out any high-level human infiltration among Hezbollah’s leadership — indirectly denying media reports that suggested senior figures may have been involved in collaborating with the Israeli occupation.

Qassem clarified that the procurement of the rigged pager devices occurred within the past year or year and a half. He added that party members had believed the operation was effectively disguised but later discovered it had been fully exposed to Israel from the start.

He noted that the explosives concealed inside the pagers were of an exceptional type that could not be detected using the standard inspection methods previously employed by Hezbollah’s security apparatus. He acknowledged that the devices were not examined using alternative methods, placing the matter within what he described as a “shortfall or failure” in oversight.

Qassem described the pager bombings as “a significant blow” to the movement and noted that Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had assigned special investigative committees to follow up on this specific file during a Shura Council meeting on September 18.

He also pointed to another major vulnerability within Hezbollah’s communications network, explaining that the party had believed Israeli eavesdropping to be localized, only to later find that it was “almost comprehensive,” enabling the enemy to amass vast amounts of information on Hezbollah’s movements and field capabilities.

“For 17 years,” Qassem said, “Israeli aircraft would fly daily, gathering data on geographic changes and compiling enough information to pinpoint the locations of our capabilities to a certain extent.” He stressed that Hezbollah’s leadership was not aware of the full scope of this breach.

In this context, Qassem recounted the moment he decided to appear in the media following the martyrdom of Sayyed Nasrallah, saying:

“My appearance on September 30, three days after Sayyed’s martyrdom, was necessary. It came as an initiative from me and in coordination with Sayyed Hashem Safi al-Din.”

He explained that the security situation at the time was extremely difficult, adding, “It was not possible to record anything better than what we did — we recorded in a three-by-three-metre room with no air conditioning.”

Qassem also revealed an attempt to smuggle a shipment of 1,500 booby-trapped pagers into Turkey. He stated that Hezbollah requested then-Prime Minister Najib Mikati to coordinate with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to seize and destroy the shipment, describing the effort as a means of “containing the damage and regaining the initiative.”