Israeli officials reportedly concealed explosives within the batteries of pagers sold to Hezbollah, according to Lebanese officials.

Israel carried out part of its device attack targeting Hezbollah by concealing explosives inside the batteries of pagers brought into Lebanon, according to two high-ranking Lebanese security officials, who said the technology was so advanced that it was virtually undetectable.

Lebanese security officials watched a series of controlled explosions of some of the weaponized pagers, as investigations into who manufactured the wireless communication devices and how they made their way into Hezbollah’s pockets continued.

The pagers used in the controlled explosions were switched off at the time of the attack on September 17, which meant they did not receive the message that caused the compromised devices to detonate. The officials had a front-row seat to see just how catastrophic the blasts would have been to those carrying the devices and others around them.

Thousands of explosions struck Hezbollah members last week, targeting their pagers on Tuesday, and then walkie-talkies a day later. In all, the blasts killed at least 37 people, including some children, and injured nearly 3,000, according to Lebanese health authorities, many of them civilian bystanders. The attack blindsided the group, which had opted for analogue technologies after forgoing cell phones to avoid Israeli infiltration.

A photo taken on September 18, 2024, in Beirut's southern suburbs shows the remains of exploded pagers on display at an undisclosed location. AFP/Getty Images

Israel has not commented directly on the attacks, but CNN has learned that the explosions were the result of a joint operation by Israel’s intelligence service, Mossad, and the Israeli military. Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, tacitly acknowledged his country’s role the day after the pager attack, praising “excellent achievements, together with the Shin Bet, together with Mossad.” Both Lebanon and Hezbollah have blamed Israel for the attacks.

One of the Lebanese security sources told CNN the way in which the explosive material had been hidden inside the pagers’ batteries was so sophisticated that it could not be detected, but did not elaborate further as to what sort of checks the devices had gone through before entering the country.

The second high-ranking security source said that he had examined one of the compromised pagers and witnessed its controlled explosion. He told CNN that the explosive material was “laced” inside the pager’s lithium battery and virtually undetectable. He added that he had never seen anything like it.

An improvised explosive device has five key components: A power source, an initiator, a detonator, an explosive charge and a case to put it all in. Sean Moorhouse, a former British Army officer and explosive ordinance disposal expert, said that only a detonator and explosive charge would have been needed to weaponize the pagers, which already have the other three components.

“It had to be done in such a way to make it invisible,” Moorhouse said, adding that one way to do that could have been modifying the battery itself – implanting an electronic detonator and small explosive charge inside of its metal casing, which would have made it impossible to detect with imaging, for example X-rays.

Other experts who reviewed footage of the blasts also said that explosive devices appeared to have been hidden in the pagers, suggesting a sophisticated supply chain attack involving a state actor.

That tallied with initial assessments by Lebanese authorities. Lebanon’s mission to the United Nations said in a letter sent to the UN Security Council last Friday that a preliminary investigation found that the communications devices were implanted with explosives before arriving in the country, tampered with “in a professional way” by “foreign entities.”

Lebanese authorities determined that the devices were detonated by sending electronic messages to them, according to the letter, which was seen by CNN. Israel was responsible for carrying out the attacks, which detonated thousands of devices simultaneously, Lebanon’s UN mission said.

Mysterious supply chain stretches from Taiwan to Hungary

Multiple photos from the aftermath of last week’s attacks in Lebanon show remnants of the exploded pagers – also known as beepers – that were consistent with a model made by a Taiwanese firm, Gold Apollo, and fragments of walkie-talkies identified as the make of a Japanese firm, ICOM.

Lebanese authorities have said that the devices used in the attacks were Gold Apollo Rugged Pager AR-924 pagers and ICOM IC-V82 walkie-talkies. Both Gold Apollo and ICOM have distanced themselves from the compromised devices.

ICOM said that the IC-V82 model was discontinued a decade ago, and it could not determine whether the devices targeted in Lebanon were counterfeit or shipped from its company. Counterfeit versions are widely available for purchase on e-commerce websites, like Alibaba. Lebanon’s communications ministry said the IC-V82 radios used in the attacks were not supplied by a recognized agent, were not officially licensed and had not been vetted by the security services.

International investigative efforts have largely zeroed in on the Gold Apollo AR-924 pagers – tracing the model’s licensing and manufacturing from Taiwan to apparent shell companies to try to establish how the Israeli operation may have been carried out. The New York Times reported, citing three intelligence officers briefed on the operation, that Israel had set up at least three shell companies to disguise the identities of those making the pagers – Israeli intelligence officers.

The chairman and founder of Taiwan-based Gold Apollo, Hsu Ching-kuang, was questioned by Taiwanese prosecutors last Thursday before being released.

A day earlier, at the nondescript offices of Gold Apollo on the outskirts of the Taiwanese capital, Hsu, speaking to CNN and other media, vehemently denied having made the pagers bearing his company’s brand name, claiming instead that they were manufactured by a Hungarian firm, BAC Consulting.

Hsu told CNN he had entered into a licensing agreement with the Budapest-registered company, signing over “sole responsibility” for the production and sale of the AR-924 model. A person called Teresa was one of his contacts for the deal, he said.

Teresa Wu, a former Gold Apollo employee, was also seen leaving the prosecutors’ office in New Taipei City last Thursday evening, according to reporting by Reuters and local media staked out outside. Prosecutors in Taiwan currently list Hsu and Wu as witnesses, two senior officials in Taiwan told CNN....read more...