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Some of the people took out their pagers at that moment to look at its screen and see what the message was, but at that moment the small radio messaging device, which is smaller than the palm of the hand, exploded and killed some people and seriously injured some others. Those who did not take the pager out of their side pocket or bags after the new message notification, were injured in the side due to the explosion of the device.
Actually, more than 3,000 pagers belonging to the Hezbollah forces and and other civilians exploded within half an hour yesterday and seriously injured all the users.
As of Wednesday noon, the martyrdom of at least 11 pager holders has been confirmed, and the condition of 200 others was reported critical. Among the victims are a 10-year-old girl and the son of one of Hezbollah's members of the parliament. Beirut hospitals have been facing an influx of injured people since yesterday.
Who held the pagers?
Since months ago, due to the security loopholes in the smartphones, Hezbollah decided to ban them and replace them with pagers for its personnel. Reuters reported that the Lebanese resistance movement had ordered about 5 pagers about 3 months ago, and on Tuesday 3,000 devices went off.
Pagers are a generation of alphanumeric messaging devices that were used before mobile phones became popular and widely used. Originally developed in the 1960s, pagers have been a reliable device for communication, especially for professionals such as health sector staff and emergency personnel and firefighters. After the mobile phone became common, the pagers were abandoned because they were no longer useful. These devices do not connect to the mobile network or the Internet and transmit the message by radio. Therefore, when the location of several Hezbollah members was revealed through mobile phone tracking, the Lebanese Hezbollah forces began to use pagers which require no mobile or internet connection.
The responsibility for the terrorist explosion of pagers
The fingers of blame are pointed at Israel as the main perpetrator and evidence proves that the Mossad was behind the explosions.
According to Yediot Aharont's report, the Mossad and the Israeli army jointly detonated pagers, although officially the Israelis have not yet dared to take responsibility for this terrorist operation. Even one of Netanyahu's advisers, who confirmed on the X channel yesterday that the Israeli army blew up the pagers of Hezbollah members in Lebanon, deleted his post a few minutes later.
American Axios news website, quoting some sources, announced that Netanyahu had agreed to the operation of blowing up communication devices in Lebanon in the presence of high-ranking officials of the Israeli regime in this week's meeting. The mentioned source pointed out that Mossad estimated before the operation that Hezbollah would respond to this operation with a massive attack. Axios pointed out that Israel carried out this operation to go to next-level phase in the war with Hezbollah, though it does not seek an all-out war. Barak Ravid, an Israeli reporter, confirmed that the PM gave the green light for the operation.
How did it happen?
Although it was initially announced that the pagers were made by the American company Motorola and exploded due to the overheating of the lithium battery, additional information disclosed new dimensions of how the beepers exploded.
The exploded pagers actually belong to a Taiwanese company called Gold Apollo, but this company stated that it did not produce these devices despite the fact they carried its brand. Hsu Ching Kuang, the founder and president of Gold Apollo, claimed in an interview with reporters that this company is not the manufacturer of the exploded pagers in Lebanon, and that a European company made them using the brand rights of this company. At the same time, the Taiwanese firm issued a statement claiming that AR-924 model pagers are manufactured and sold by BAC, a Hungarian company, and "we only license the trademark and have no involvement in the design or manufacture of this product.
The New York Times said in a report that the explosion of the pagers was due to the use of some explosive materials next to its battery, and this explosion was due to the embedded explosives, not just the battery catching fire. According to this report, a remote control overheated the battery of the devices before the embedded explosive material went off.
Explosion: why now?
Concerning the timing of the explosion, Haaretz published a report, claiming that the Israeli regime was concerned about the full disclosure of the explosives embedded in the pager devices belonging to the Lebanese Hezbollah members, and therefore blew them up earlier than the scheduled time. It has even been claimed that one of the pager users found out about the embedding of explosives in his device a few days ago and was immediately assassinated by the Israeli fighter jets in an attack in southern Lebanon.
Real targets of pagers
Concerning the timing of the explosion of the pagers, some Western resources, on top of them Foreign Policy, have provided a more precise analysis. The American think tank reported that the pager attack was an attempt by Mossad to mend its largely damaged face.
In fact, over the past year, Mossad's picture as Israel's intelligence service had been severely damaged due to the setbacks surrounding Hamas's attack on October 7, and it seems that pager explosions were an attempt to re-brand Mossad as the leading intelligence and security organization of Israel. Since the very first hours after the explosions, images of Israel were broadcast in which the Israelis were celebrating the attack, and in some images, Mossad's name could be seen written on the placards. But can the explosion of the pagers really repair the damaged face of the Mossad which failed to predict Hamas's Operation Al-Aqsa Storm? Given the continuation of anti-government protests in Israel for the release of prisoners held by Hamas and the inability of the Israeli army to achieve the goals of the war, including obliteration of Hamas and the arrest or assassination of Hamas’s leader Yahya Sinwar, it is highly unlikely that operation will repair the image of failed Mossad or empower the Israeli military to realize its war goals.
Even now odds are that after the explosion of pagers in Lebanon, we will witness the intensification of Hezbollah's attacks on Israeli targets in the occupied territories. Nafiseh Kohnavard, a senior BBC reporter, in a report said that the reason for Israel's pager operation was that Hezbollah's attack on the 8200 Unit headquarters, an intelligence unit of the Israeli army, on August 25 was successful and killed staff there.
Entering new stage of war
Experts believe that pager explosions in Lebanon is an entry to new stage of tensions. Cyber attacks are majorly invisible and leave no tracks. They are conducted remotely and target communication networks and infrastructure.
But this risk also exists for the other party, as so far many cyber attacks have caused damage to the water supply infrastructure and even the power grid of the Israeli regime.
Speaking to Reuters, Sanjay Jha, a full Professor at the School of Computer Science and Engineering since 2006 and the Chief Scientist of the UNSW Institute for Cybersecurity, told Reuters that "cyber war is no longer a threat of the future. It is a reality of today's life."
Explosion of pagers shows that digital and remote warfare has become part of Gaza conflict and the region. So, perhaps the next response of Hezbollah will not just be on the battleground, but a more dangerous comprehensive cyber attack with larger dimensions targeting Israeli infrastructure.
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