In a significant and unprecedented military operation, Israel's intelligence agency, Mossad, has been implicated in planting explosives within pagers used by Hezbollah members. This covert strike, carried out on September 17, 2024, resulted in simultaneous explosions across Lebanon and Syria, leading to at least 11 fatalities and over 3,000 injuries.

The operation involved embedding nearly three grams of explosive material into over 5,000 pagers sourced from a Taiwanese company, Gold Apollo. 

The devices used in the attack were allegedly manufactured by Gold Apollo, a Taiwan-based company, and were procured by Hezbollah months earlier for their low-tech communication needs. These devices were modified before being delivered to Hezbollah, which had turned to pagers for secure communication following warnings about the vulnerabilities of mobile phones to Israeli surveillance. The explosives were activated by a coded message sent to the pagers, which appeared normal to their users until detonation. Hezbollah terrorists relied on these pagers to communicate safely. However, according to Lebanese and security sources, Israeli intelligence agents infiltrated the supply chain, modifying the pagers with explosives before they were shipped to Lebanon.

Experts suggest that planning such an intricate operation likely took several months to two years. This involved not only technical modifications but also extensive intelligence gathering to ensure the pagers were distributed among Hezbollah operatives without detection. The complexity of the attack indicates a deep infiltration of Hezbollah's communication methods by Israeli intelligence.

A coded message, disguised as an ordinary communication from Hezbollah leadership, triggered the hidden explosives in the pagers. "The operation was meticulously planned, with explosive components embedded at the production stage and activated remotely," a senior Lebanese security official revealed. Jonathan Panikoff, a former U.S. national intelligence officer on the Middle East, described it as “the biggest counterintelligence failure Hezbollah has faced in decades.”

Hezbollah has publicly blamed Israel for this "criminal aggression," vowing retaliation and describing the event as their most significant security breach in decades. The explosions primarily affected Hezbollah strongholds in southern Beirut, overwhelming local hospitals with casualties. The fallout from this incident raises concerns about escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah amid ongoing conflicts in the region.

The U.S. government has denied any involvement or prior knowledge of the operation, although it was informed post-incident by Israeli officials. Meanwhile, Gold Apollo distanced itself from the pagers used in the attack, stating that they only authorized branding for devices manufactured by another company.

Agencies