World

Explosive pagers which killed Hezbollah members ‘modified by Israel at production level’

Israel’s Mossad spy agency planted a small amount of explosives inside thousands of pagers ordered by Hezbollah months before the devices exploded, a Lebanese security source has told the Reuters news agency.

The senior source said the militant group had ordered 5,000 beepers which several other sources said were brought into Lebanon in the spring.

The same source claimed that the devices had been modified by Israel’s spy service “at the production level”.

A second security source told Reuters that up to three grammes of explosives were hidden in the new pagers that went “undetected” by Hezbollah for months.

The remains of what is said to be one of the exploding pagers
Image:
The remains of what is claimed to be one of the exploding pagers

Middle East latest: ‘Israel planted explosives in pagers’

Details from the Reuters report are similar to one by the New York Times, which citied American and other officials.

Images of the destroyed devices analysed by Reuters showed a format and stickers that were consistent with the AR-924 model of pagers with Gold Apollo branding – a Taiwan-based company.

The firm’s founder, Hsu Ching-Kuang, said the devices were actually made under licence in Europe by a firm called BAC, using the Gold Apollo name.

In a statement given to Sky News in Taiwan, the company said: “Apollo Gold Corporation has established a long-term private label authorisation and regional agency cooperation with BAC.

“According to the agreement, we authorise BAC to use our brand trademark for production sales in specific regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are entirely handled by BAC.”

Apollo Gold declined to give further details of the European firm.

The model, like other pagers, wirelessly receives and display text messages but cannot make telephone calls.

People gather outside American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) as more than 1,000 people, including Hezbollah fighters and medics, were wounded when the pagers they use to communicate exploded across Lebanon, according to a security source, in Beirut, Lebanon September 17, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Image:
People gather outside American University of Beirut Medical Center. Pic: Reuters

Nine people were killed and thousands seriously injured in Tuesday’s explosions in different parts of Lebanon, the country’s health minister said.

Firas Abiad said 200 of the 2,750 wounded were in a critical condition.

Lebanese officials laid the blame on “Israeli aggression”, while Hezbollah promised to retaliate insisting Israel would receive “its fair punishment” for the blasts.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

‘Around 2,750’ injured in pager blasts

The Israeli military, which has been engaged in cross-border fighting with Hezbollah since the start of the Gaza war in October last year, has refused to respond to questions about the detonations.

Read more:
Pager explosions will cause immense embarrassment and sow chaos
How Israel is suspected of using technology against its enemies


Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

Experts broadly agree that the blasts do not look like a typical lithium battery fire.

Keren Elazari, a hacker and security researcher at Tel Aviv University, told Sky News: “There is no remote hacking capability that could generate that kind of kinetic explosion… some sort of a physical explosive component was probably part of the equation.”

Bomb disposal expert and former British army officer Chris Hunter added that his initial theory – based on injuries – suggests the blasts are “consistent with one to two ounces of high explosive”.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Ambulances at scene of pagers explosion

“We’ve seen this sort of similar MO [particular method] with mobile devices before,” he said, pointing to the assassination of Hamas master bomb maker Yahya Ayyash whose mobile phone had been laced with a small amount of explosives.

Hezbollah fighters would have considered pagers a lo-fi, harder to infiltrate alternative to mobile phones, according to Sky News’s Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall.

It comes after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah previously warned the group’s members in February not to carry mobile phones because Israel could use them to track their movements.

Articles You May Like

Amazon same-day prescription delivery expanding to nearly half of U.S. in 2025
‘If you remain, you could die’: What we know about Hurricane Milton – as new satellite image released
Employer national insurance could rise in budget, minister suggests
Labour is desperate for hope – the budget will be biggest test yet
Port giant’s £1bn investment on hold after row with cabinet minister