Two retired Israeli intelligence agents have revealed details about the pager and walkie-talkie attacks in September, which killed at least 39 Hezbollah members and injured nearly 3,000 people, including Hezbollah fighters and Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon.
According to the agents, who appeared on CBS’s 60 Minutes in a segment aired Sunday night, the operation began 10 years ago with walkie-talkies rigged with hidden explosives, which Hezbollah unknowingly purchased from Israel, its enemy.Â
The walkie-talkies were not detonated until September 17, just one day after booby-trapped pagers had been triggered.
BREAKING: +1,000 Pagers carried by Hezbollah operatives have exploded, possibly by an Israeli hack to overheat the lithium batteries within the devices.
‼️Your phone has a BIGGER battery than a pager.
We are ALL carrying potential bombs in our pockets.
WATCH👇 pic.twitter.com/jjpURuFCkS
— Radar🚨 (@RadarHits) September 17, 2024
WSJ: The affected pagers were from a new shipment that Hezbollah received in recent days. A senior Hezbollah terrorist speculated that malware may have caused the devices to heat up and explode. There are close to 1,500 wounded or dead terrorists. pic.twitter.com/EXfPsQ7kO6
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) September 17, 2024
The agents said the pagers were designed to be slightly larger in order to conceal the explosives inside. They were repeatedly tested on dummies to determine the precise amount of explosive needed to injure only the Hezbollah fighter, while minimizing the risk to others nearby.
The devices were smuggled to Hezbollah through a complex network of suppliers, including a Taiwanese manufacturer and a Hungarian front company.
The agents noted that the attack gave Israel an opening to intensify airstrikes, further weakening Hezbollah’s capabilities in the region.
The coordinated pager and walkie-talkie attacks coincided with Israel’s intensified counteroffensive against Hezbollah, which had escalated its strikes on Israel after Hamas’s October 7 attack.
Last November, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted that Israel was behind the attacks.
