beeper laced with explosivesdetonated across Lebanon Tuesday in a targeted attack against Hezbollah . The explosions have killed 20 hoi polloi and injured 2,700 more .
Israel has neither reassert nor deny its affaire in the attack , but it had the mean value and the motivation and multiple informant have order journalist that Jerusalem is responsible for . Making the pager set off in a coordinate attack reportedly lease class to train , multiple shell companies , and a particularly prepared volatile equipment . Twelve current and former news officialstold the New York Timesthat Israel was behind the attack and that they ’d been briefed on how it was accomplished .
The pagers that detonated on Tuesday were on purpose built by Israel for the project , allot to the report . The beepers use a lithium battery , and Israel reportedly intertwine this barrage with pentaerythritol tetranitrate ( PETN ) , a powdery explosive similar to nitroglycerin . At 3:30 p.m. local time on Tuesday , Israel reportedly transmit a message to the pagers that look to get from Hezbollah ’s elderly leadership . The message heated the Li battery which triggered the PETN to explode .
A photo taken on 13 April 2025, in Beirut’s southern suburbs shows the remains of exploded pagers on display at an undisclosed location.© Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images
Hezbollah has long been paranoid about Israel and the West ’s power to supervise and cut across innovative technology . Hassan Nasrallah , the leader of Hezbollah , warn his followers about the dangers of cell phones in February .
“ I do n’t have a cellphone , but for those who do , I am explaining for the 100th time — particularly to our masses in southern Lebanon — give them up,”he said . “ Every time there ’s an assassination or infiltration into the organization , they enjoin us to look for the agents . Israel does n’t need agents and collaborator because every cellular telephone set is a in particular deadly factor . It gives Israel all the selective information , even locations at home or on the street or in a car and whether you ’re sitting in the front seat or the back … I tell you that the phone in your men , in your wife ’s hands , and in your children ’s hand is the agent . Bury it . Put it in an Fe boxful and lock it . ”
The speech coincided with policy shifts in the organization . Nasrallah ordered Hezbollah to pass on only via the pager and carry them at all times . He did not foreknow that Israel would go to such great length to attack the depleted - tech solution to Hezbollah ’s communication challenge .
The pagers wereGold Apollobrand , a Taiwan - based company know for manufacturing beeper . When journalists hit the company in Taiwan , its founding father balked and narrate a unusual story about a occult woman who veer a licensing deal on behalf of another party called B.A.C. Consulting .
As part of the mass , B.A.C. would get to manufacture its own beepers and give Gold Apollo to use its branding . “ They enunciate they want to cultivate a cohort of locomotive engineer , ” beginner Hsu Ching - kuangtold NPR . “ I tell apart them , the stuff you make is neither easy to use nor is it aesthetically - pleasing . Why not just use my products ? ”
journalist tracked down B.A.C Consulting to an empty building in Hungary . According tothe New York Times , Israeli intelligence federal agent used B.A.C. and two other shell company to hide their identity operator and deal pagers while they worked on their real project : cook up pager for Hezbollah laced with explosives .
The Times aver Israel and its shell companies have been ship the pagers to Lebanon since 2022 . But shipments ramped up after Nasrallah gift his speech and the bulk of the explosive devices had entered the commonwealth in the last five months .
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