Lebanon’s Hezbollah was still distributing Gold Apollo-branded pagers to its members just hours before thousands of the devices exploded this week, security sources revealed, suggesting the group believed they were safe despite ongoing efforts to sweep its electronic equipment for threats.
One Hezbollah member received a new pager on Monday, only for it to explode the next day while still in its packaging, according to one security source. Another pager, given to a senior member days earlier, detonated and injured a subordinate, a second source confirmed.
In a coordinated attack, the pagers detonated on Tuesday across Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon, Beirut’s suburbs, and the eastern Bekaa valley. The explosions, followed by another wave of attacks targeting Hezbollah walkie-talkies the next day, killed 37 people, including two children, and injured over 3,000.
Lebanon and Hezbollah have blamed Israel for the attacks, with reports suggesting Israel’s military intelligence Unit 8200 was involved in the planning. Although Israel has not confirmed or denied involvement, it has since intensified airstrikes on Lebanon. The batteries of the walkie-talkies were laced with PETN , a highly explosive compound, according to a Lebanese source familiar with the devices' components.
“It’s very hard to detect the explosives with any device or scanner,” one security source said. Hezbollah had tested the pagers after their delivery to Lebanon in 2022, even traveling with them through airports to ensure they did not trigger alarms, according to sources. However, despite these precautions, the explosives went unnoticed for months.
Hezbollah routinely checks its communications equipment for breaches, but the recent attacks have struck a blow to its reputation as the most formidable force within Iran’s Axis of Resistance across the Middle East. The group’s Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, called the attacks "unprecedented in the history" of Hezbollah during a televised speech on Thursday.
After the pager explosions , Hezbollah ramped up its inspection of communications systems, suspecting that other devices might be compromised. However, before their review concluded, hand-held radios exploded on Wednesday, leaving 25 dead and injuring 650, a much higher toll than the previous day’s attacks.
The increased lethality of the walkie-talkies was due to a higher payload of explosives than the pagers, according to both security and intelligence sources. Hezbollah believes Israel detonated the radios out of fear that the group would soon discover they were also rigged.
The investigation into where and how the devices were tampered with is ongoing. Hezbollah has previously thwarted Israeli attempts to breach its imported devices, ranging from landlines to office ventilation units, but this time, the group admits they were outsmarted.
“They tricked us, hats off to the enemy,” one security source remarked.
One Hezbollah member received a new pager on Monday, only for it to explode the next day while still in its packaging, according to one security source. Another pager, given to a senior member days earlier, detonated and injured a subordinate, a second source confirmed.
In a coordinated attack, the pagers detonated on Tuesday across Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon, Beirut’s suburbs, and the eastern Bekaa valley. The explosions, followed by another wave of attacks targeting Hezbollah walkie-talkies the next day, killed 37 people, including two children, and injured over 3,000.
Lebanon and Hezbollah have blamed Israel for the attacks, with reports suggesting Israel’s military intelligence Unit 8200 was involved in the planning. Although Israel has not confirmed or denied involvement, it has since intensified airstrikes on Lebanon. The batteries of the walkie-talkies were laced with PETN , a highly explosive compound, according to a Lebanese source familiar with the devices' components.
“It’s very hard to detect the explosives with any device or scanner,” one security source said. Hezbollah had tested the pagers after their delivery to Lebanon in 2022, even traveling with them through airports to ensure they did not trigger alarms, according to sources. However, despite these precautions, the explosives went unnoticed for months.
Hezbollah routinely checks its communications equipment for breaches, but the recent attacks have struck a blow to its reputation as the most formidable force within Iran’s Axis of Resistance across the Middle East. The group’s Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, called the attacks "unprecedented in the history" of Hezbollah during a televised speech on Thursday.
After the pager explosions , Hezbollah ramped up its inspection of communications systems, suspecting that other devices might be compromised. However, before their review concluded, hand-held radios exploded on Wednesday, leaving 25 dead and injuring 650, a much higher toll than the previous day’s attacks.
The increased lethality of the walkie-talkies was due to a higher payload of explosives than the pagers, according to both security and intelligence sources. Hezbollah believes Israel detonated the radios out of fear that the group would soon discover they were also rigged.
The investigation into where and how the devices were tampered with is ongoing. Hezbollah has previously thwarted Israeli attempts to breach its imported devices, ranging from landlines to office ventilation units, but this time, the group admits they were outsmarted.
“They tricked us, hats off to the enemy,” one security source remarked.
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