The explosion of pagers in Lebanon: new information about Israel’s involvement in the attack

An American intelligence source claimed to ABC News that Israel had a part in the production of the beepers that exploded on Hezbollah operatives this week. This type of operation, known as “disruption of the supply chain”, has been planned for at least 15 years. According to the source, the CIA has long avoided using this tactic due to the high risk to innocent civilians.

The source claimed to ABC News that the planning of the attack involved the use of straw companies, with multiple layers of Israeli intelligence officers and their people presenting themselves as a legitimate company that produced the tracking. At least some of the workers were not aware of the true identity of their employers. Israel’s involvement in the production was first reported in the “New York Times” newspaper. According to the sources, between 28 and 56 grams of explosives and a remote activation switch were planted in the detectors to carry out the explosion.

The pursuit of the pager maker continues; In Lebanon they believe – this is how the explosions were triggered
Hezbollah under fire: the number of casualties in the beeper explosions is much worse than we thought

The Lebanese Minister of Health, Firas al-Abiad, said that in the last two days of explosions in Lebanon, which were triggered remotely using explosives inside detectors or radios, at least 37 people were killed and 2,931 were injured.

The ABC News network contacted BAC Consulting – the Hungarian company that received a contract to manufacture the detectors for Gold Apollo in Taiwan – but both companies did not respond to repeated inquiries. A spokesman for the Hungarian government told ABC News on Wednesday that the inventors had never been in Hungary and that the company was acting “only as a commercial intermediary, with no production or operations facility in Hungary.” The Bulgarian security service stated that it did not detect “customs actions related to the goods in question”, but the investigation is still ongoing.

“It appears that a high quality military grade plastic explosive was used,” Trevor Lawrence, head of the Explosives Testing and Evaluation Center at Cranfield University, told Britain’s Guardian. “Only about 5 grams is enough, but integrating them into the tracking devices while maintaining their function is a complex job.” Lawrence clarified that military plastic explosives are not commercially available, but they can cause death and serious injuries in close proximity to a person, especially in the area of ​​the head and upper body.

Dr. Mohammad Javad Khalifa, an analyst at the American University in Beirut, told the Hezbollah-affiliated newspaper Al-Akhbar that over 90% of the injuries treated are double injuries to the eyes and fingertips. Chuck Freilich, former Lt. The head of the National Security Staff noted that “an operation of this type includes a hundred stages, all of which must be carried out perfectly”.