A coordinated attack this week, was reportedly carried out by Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, targeting Hezbollah’s communication devices in Lebanon. Thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members exploded simultaneously, killing tens of people and injuring hundreds more.
Videos circulating online show the explosions, indicating that the explosives were planted in the devices, and remotely detonated.
The Jewish nation's notorious intelligence service also reportedly compromised solar panels which exploded in homes in Beirut and southern Lebanon, in one incident wounding at least one girl. One video online show an explosion at a funeral ceremony of people killed in a previous incident.
Hezbollah blamed Israel for the unprecedented and sophisticated attack likely intended to cripple the militant group's communication infrastructure and disrupt its operations. The Islamic militant group had switched to pagers and walkie-talkies as a low-tech means to evade Israeli surveillance.
The militant group has vowed to retaliate.
This week's incident occurred amid rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, with the war in Gaza raging on.
Israel has not publicly commented on the attack, but US officials confirmed Mossad’s involvement. Lebanon characterized the incident as “criminal Israeli aggression” and a “serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty.”
Reacting online, human rights and anti-terrorism experts condemned the incident as a cruel and reckless state-sponsored terror attack against the Lebanese people. And many worry about the adoption of such tactics by non-state terrorist groups and the implications on the safety of civilian travel.
Network Of Mossad Fronts, Shell Companies, Involved In Pager-Explosion Attacks Targeting Hezbollah In Lebanon
Mossad allegedly intercepted and planted explosives in a shipment of 5,000 pagers and other devices ordered by Hezbollah from a Taiwanese company, Gold Apollo. The pagers were a new brand, AP924, which the Islamic militant group had not used before.
BAC Consulting was reportedly identified as a front company set up by Mossad in Budapest, which sold the pagers to Hezbollah. A Hungarian company was also mentioned in relation to manufacturing the devices in cooperation with a Taiwanese company, which itself might be an Israeli front. An unnamed Israeli company established to target Hezbollah, has also been supplying such devices since 2022.
These companies were either directly involved in manufacturing or supplying the pagers, or were part of the covert operation by Mossad to infiltrate Hezbollah's communication systems by providing them with compromised devices. The operation involved creating shell companies and fronts to mask the involvement of Israeli intelligence.
