| Listen to our audio presentation: History of the US Supreme Court |
In a dramatic escalation of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, a series of coordinated explosions ripped through Lebanon on Tuesday afternoon. The blasts, triggered by pagers carried by Hezbollah operatives, sent shockwaves across the country, injuring more than 2,750 people and killing at least 12, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. As NPR reported, the pagers were secretly tampered with by Israeli intelligence in an elaborate operation involving shell companies, advanced explosives, and years of meticulous planning.
- Israel covertly supplied Hezbollah with pagers laced with explosives, detonating them in a coordinated attack across Lebanon.
- The operation was part of a long-term plan involving shell companies to infiltrate Hezbollah’s supply chain and plant explosive devices.
- At least 12 people were killed and over 2,750 injured in the blasts, with Hezbollah vowing retaliation against Israel.
- The attack marks a new phase in the tech-driven conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, where even low-tech devices like pagers became tools of warfare.
The explosions occurred after Hezbollah, wary of Israeli hacking capabilities, shifted away from cellphones to pagers. These devices, considered harder to trace, were believed to offer a secure means of communication. Yet, the reliance on these seemingly low-tech gadgets turned into a fatal vulnerability. According to the New York Times, Israeli intelligence had infiltrated the pager supply chain as early as 2022, creating a front company in Hungary to produce devices rigged with explosives.
Israel’s tactic mirrored a modern-day Trojan horse: pagers that appeared to serve a defensive purpose for Hezbollah but were secretly weapons waiting to be activated. The explosive compound PETN was concealed within the pager batteries, a deadly surprise that Israel detonated at a crucial moment this week. In a synchronized move, the pagers beeped and displayed messages that seemed to come from Hezbollah leadership, only to erupt into chaos seconds later.
This operation highlights the deep technological rivalry between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah. As tensions rose with the ongoing conflict in Gaza, Hezbollah sought to protect its operatives from Israeli tracking methods. According to Al Jazeera, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had urged his fighters to abandon cellphones, fearing Israel’s ability to hack into and remotely access data from their phones. The group turned to pagers, hoping the older technology would evade surveillance.
However, Israel had anticipated this shift. According to CNBC, BAC Consulting, the Hungarian firm at the heart of this operation, was a shell company set up by Israeli intelligence to manufacture pagers exclusively for Hezbollah. With the front companies in place, Israel funneled thousands of explosive-laden pagers into Lebanon, timing their detonation for maximum impact. The attack followed a recent security cabinet meeting where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to restore security in the north of the country.
Though Hezbollah has vowed a “severe reckoning” in response to the attack, the group now faces a significant setback. Among the victims were several Hezbollah operatives, and noncombatants were also caught in the blasts. One of the most prominent casualties was Mohammad Mahdi Ammar, the son of a Hezbollah MP, according to Al Jazeera.
This covert strike is part of Israel’s broader strategy of leveraging advanced technology in its long-standing conflict with Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed groups. In 2020, Israel reportedly used artificial intelligence to assassinate Iran’s top nuclear scientist, another operation showcasing its ability to combine technology with traditional military tactics.
With both sides escalating their capabilities, it’s clear that the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict is entering a new phase. Hezbollah’s once-reliable pagers have now become a symbol of the group’s vulnerabilities in the face of Israel’s relentless pursuit of tactical superiority.