Israel created a front company to manufacture pagers, which were then sold to members of the Lebanese group Hezbollah.
This is reported by The New York Times (NYT) with reference to intelligence sources.
We are talking about BAC Consulting, a Hungarian company that had a contract for the production of devices on behalf of the Taiwanese company “Gold Apollo”.
Sources say Israel also created two other front companies to hide the real names of the people who created the pagers and were Israeli intelligence officers.
BAC worked with regular customers for whom it produced a number of regular pagers. But the only client that really mattered was Hezbollah, and its pagers contained batteries filled with the explosive PETN, sources told the NYT.
Pagers began arriving in Lebanon in the summer of 2022 in small numbers, but production quickly increased after Hezbollah leader Saeed Nasrallah spoke out against the groupʼs use of cellphones.
Some of Nasrallahʼs fears were fueled by reports from allies that Israel had acquired new tools to hack phones, remotely activating microphones and cameras to spy on their owners. Israel has invested millions in developing the technology, the sources said, and rumors have spread among Hezbollah and its allies that no mobile communication — even through encrypted messaging apps — is any longer secure.
To trigger the blasts, Israel activated pagers and sent a message in Arabic that appeared to come from Hezbollahʼs top leadership, the sources said.
- On September 17, hundreds of pagers belonging to members of the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah exploded in Lebanon. Because of this, 12 people died, almost 3 thousand were injured. Reuters, citing sources, writes that Israelʼs foreign intelligence service Mossad planted explosives in 5 000 pagers imported by the Lebanese Hezbollah group a few months before the explosions.
- On September 18, there was a repeated series of explosions — now walkie-talkies and radio receivers were detonated, 20 people died and 450 were injured.
- After the repeated explosions, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said that Israel was shifting its main military efforts to the north — a "new phase" of the war was beginning. In the north, Israel borders Lebanon, where Hezbollah operates.