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New Details on Israel's Penetration of Hizbullah

(Washington Post) Souad Mekhennet - Two years ago, the new line of Apollo pagers seemed precisely suited to the needs of Hizbullah. The AR924 pager was rugged, built to survive battlefield conditions. It boasted a waterproof Taiwanese design and an oversized battery that could operate for months without charging. Best of all, there was no risk that the pagers could ever be tracked by Israel's intelligence services. Hizbullah's leaders bought 5,000 of them and began handing them out to mid-level fighters and support personnel in February. None suspected they were wearing an ingeniously-crafted Israeli bomb. As many as 3,000 Hizbullah officers and members were killed or maimed when Israel's Mossad triggered the devices remotely on Sept. 17. The first part of the plan, booby-trapped walkie-talkies, began being inserted into Lebanon by Mossad in 2015. The mobile two-way radios contained oversized battery packs, a hidden explosive and a transmission system that gave Israel complete access to Hizbullah communications. For nine years, the Israelis eavesdropped on Hizbullah, while reserving the option to turn the walkie-talkies into bombs in the future. The idea for the pager operation originated in 2022. In 2023, Hizbullah began receiving solicitations for the bulk purchase of Taiwanese-branded Apollo pagers, a well-recognized trademark with no discernible links to Israeli or Jewish interests. The Taiwanese company had no knowledge of the plan. The sales pitch came from a marketing official trusted by Hizbullah, a former Middle East sales representative for the Taiwanese firm who had established her own company. The actual production of the devices was outsourced and the marketing official was unaware that the pagers were physically assembled in Israel under Mossad oversight. The bomb component was so carefully hidden as to be virtually undetectable, even if the device was taken apart. The device used a special two-step procedure required for viewing secure messages that had been encrypted. The procedure ensured that most users would be holding the pager with both hands when it detonated. On Sept. 17, thousands of pagers rang or vibrated at once, all across Lebanon and Syria. A short sentence in Arabic appeared on the screen: "You received an encrypted message." Hizbullah operatives dutifully followed the instructions for checking coded messages, pressing two buttons, triggering explosions. Less than a minute later, thousands of other pagers exploded by remote command. The following day, hundreds of walkie-talkies blew up in the same way.
2024-10-06 00:00:00
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