Hundreds of pagers associated with the militant organization Hezbollah detonated in Lebanon and Syria. At least 12 people passed away and over 2,800 were injured in the bombings. In Syria, other Hezbollah pagers detonated as well, injuring a few people.
Israel has been accused by Beirut, Hezbollah, and their affiliates. Many commentators think that the answer to the what and how of the tragedy could be found in Hezbollah’s initial acquisition of the pagers. This could give information on whether the instruments had been manipulated to make blasts possible.
Thousands of pagers went out all around Lebanon early on the afternoon on Tuesday. Hezbollah said in an announcement hours later that the pagers used by staff members of different Hezbollah organizations and divisions exploded, killing many of its members as well as two children.
Israel was blamed for the pager explosions by Hezbollah and various other regional voices. After the onset of Israeli assault on Gaza, the two sides have engaged in strikes over the border between Lebanon and Israel. The Israeli army has declined to offer any remarks on the detonations. Hezbollah has vowed to exact revenge on Israel.
According to two different sources, the Mossad put explosive materials in 5,000 pagers, as cited by Reuters. The devices were authorized by Hezbollah few months prior to the deadly blasts.
According to the reports, the blasts were caused by a code that was transmitted to 3,000 pagers at the same time. Right now, it’s unclear exactly what mechanism has been utilized for the pager blasts. According to some specialists, there may have been a hack involving an altered code that affected the radio technology that the paging devices use.
It’s possible that the pagers’ batteries overheated, causing a phenomenon known as thermal runaway. The pagers cells may have exploded as a result of that.
According to some researchers, it’s possible that the pagers were manipulated along after the purchase by Hezbollah and have been programmed to detonate at will.
Hezbollah Investigations
Based on preliminary findings, it appears that Israel loaded each device with one to three grams of the potent explosive pentaerythritol tetranitrate. The US, the EU, and the rest of the West have imposed a number of sanctions against Lebanon. The Washington, London and their allies also include Hezbollah on their list of terrorist organizations. This indicates that businesses who trade with these nations or who are listed in these regions are hesitant to engage in direct business dealings.
The pagers that Hezbollah purchased were held by an outsider and were left at a port for over 90 days until clearance licenses were obtained.
Hezbollah believes that Israel was able to insert explosives into the devices over that actually long period. According to Hezbollah’s current research, the pager cells were surrounded by metal balls. The balls greatly increased the blast’s severity by enabling the explosive power to drive metal pieces outward. It’s also likely that this was carried out during the same period of clearance the cargo was delayed.
The remnants of the detonated pagers have been found to bear the brand of Taiwanese pager producer Gold Apollo. Gold Apollo issued a statement hours after the blasts in which it denied having produced Hezbollah’s pagers and clarified that the logo on the devices were fake. According to the Taiwanese company, BAC, a Hungarian company, had instead constructed the pagers under a license agreement.
Thus far, the evidence points to Hezbollah obtaining the pagers sometime in February. It happened after Hezbollah leader issued a directive for militants to give up carrying cell phones. The idea behind Nasrallah’s directive was that Israeli security could simply intercept and manipulate the cell phones.
