New York Times Claims Israel Built Explosives Into Pagers
September 19th, 2024I had assumed that the equipment was intercepted and modified by the Israelis, but this appears to not be the case. The New York Times claims that the Israelis built the pagers and sold them to Hezbollah.
Via: Daily Mail:
The Israeli secret service didn’t just tamper with the deadly Hezbollah pagers — they made them from scratch, having set up a complex web of shell companies across Europe, it was claimed today.
Initially it was suspected that Mossad had managed to intercept and plant tiny bombs in a shipment of the pagers headed for the Iranian-backed terror group in Lebanon after thousands of people were injured and dozens killed.
But now it appears that the Israelis set up front companies across Europe to manufacture the pagers themselves, embedding small amounts of PETN explosive inside, ready to be detonated by a coded message.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied any role in the explosions, but 12 current and former defence and intelligence officials told the New York Times that the Israelis were behind it, describing the operation as ‘complex and long’.
Israel is certainly asking for it, as the phrase went, back in the day.
Seems American University Hospital of Beirut swapped out their old pagers on August 29th.