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It was 3:30 p.m. in Beirut (1:30 p.m. in mainland Portugal) on Tuesday, when thousands of “almost simultaneous explosions” of pager In Lebanon, 11 people were killed and nearly 3,000 were injured. Hezbollah blamed Israel, which did not claim responsibility for the attacks. But why did members of the Lebanese terror group use such rudimentary technology to communicate, and how could the Israelis have access to thousands of devices for a coordinated attack?

The report of the moment of the explosions was given by Al Jazeera journalist in Beirut, Zeina Khodr, who describes a succession of explosions in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, in the south and in the east of the country, which startled the inhabitants. At the same time, explosions were repeated in Syria and Iran, where some militants were located. The targets were all members of Hezbollah, which uses pager as a way to contact each other. Elijah Magnier, a political and military analyst, told the channel that the The use of these devices is not new and has always been used for encrypted communications. among senior members of the Lebanese group, linked to Iran.

However, its use became widespread after October 7, when Israel launched the offensive in Gaza, in response to the Hamas attack. With Hezbollah aligned with the Palestinian resistance group, tension on the Lebanese-Israeli border has since increased. In February, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah called on all his members to stop using smartphones and break them or bury them, justifying the decision with the possibility of Israeli security agencies can easily access communications. within the group, putting their safety at risk. On the southern border, the smartphones They are even expressly banned because of their proximity to Israel, making them even more vulnerable.

Pager explosion kills nine and injures nearly 3,000 in Lebanon. Hezbollah accuses Israel and guarantees retaliation

Modern technology has been replaced by the popular devices of the 1990s. Apart from not being connected to the Internet and therefore not being subject to cyber attacks, there are other advantages. For example, they use more powerful transmitters, which can be used at greater distances and in cases of breakdowns or difficulties in communication networks, such as natural disasters, El Español notes. Today, they are still very popular in hospitals, where secure communication is essential.

With Nasrallah’s call, its use spread from the summit and active fighters to all Hezbollah soldiers, sympathizers and supporters, including people from Beirut’s “political and security circles.””The group includes thousands of people,” said Amer Al Sabaileh, a regional security specialist based in Jordan, who was interviewed by the New York Times. Bassem Badram, who had a friend wounded in the attack, reinforced the idea that many of the victims were not militants in the traditional sense of the word, but simply sympathizers of the Lebanese group. “When the situation arises, they believe that they have to defend their city and their country,” he told the Wall Street Journal.

STORY IN DEVELOPMENT:

Reports are circulating alleging that more than 1,000 Hezbollah operatives in Lebanon have been killed and/or injured because Israel hacked into their pagers and detonated them simultaneously.

This is one of the most unique attacks against a highly sophisticated terrorist… pic.twitter.com/CShwLQb3ZP

– Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) September 17, 2024

“We can catch you anywhere”: Israeli sabotage of new devices

Although Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack, Hezbollah and international military experts have no doubt that the attack came from there. For the Associated Press, a A Hezbollah official confirmed the devices were of a new brand.which was recently launched. The New York Times later reported that it was the Taiwanese brand Gold Apollo, adding that the shipment included more than 3,000 pagerof four different models, mostly AP924. Al Sabaileeh assumes that the mass delivery of the new devices was facilitated by Iranwhich has previously provided military support to Hezbollah.

Michael Horowitz, director of the security firm Le Beck International, presents to the Wall Street Journal two options for sabotaging Israel. The first is the installation of a malware in lithium batteries pagerwhich causes them to overheat and explode. The second is the placement of a explosive, to be detonated remotely. “Either way, it was a sophisticated attack. It is a breach of physical security, which means that Israel had access to the producers of the devices.“, he says.

Experts interviewed by the Telegraph lean towards the second option. Alan Woodward, a cybersecurity expert, explains that when a lithium battery overheats, it melts, without immediately exploding, which makes a coordinated attack like this very difficult. Tony Ingesson, who worked in the Swedish Armed Forces’ bomb disposal brigades, confirms that the visible wounds in the shared images are consistent with explosives. If an explosive such as C4 is used, a small charge of 10 or 20 grams is placed in the battery. pager It would be enough to injure the person who had it in their possession.

Three officers, including an American, who had knowledge of an operation to sabotage the pager Before being handed over to Hezbollah, they confirmed the Israeli intervention. Under anonymity, they told the New York Times that charges like those described by Ingesson and a small switch were placed next to the batteries of the devices. This The mechanism was activated by a message sent to all Hezbollah members.as if coming from the direction, detonating the thousands of bombs. The same sources add that the devices were programmed to emit a beep for several seconds before exploding.

All the experts interviewed by the various newspapers agree that The attack is a “psychological blow” to Hezbollah.. “The way they targeted and programmed [os pagers] “It’s like a movie: the devices exploding at the same time everywhere is shocking,” Al Sabaileh said. “This sends a message to Hezbollah: ‘We can catch you anywhere.’ The war is no longer at the border, this attack has spread to homes, to shopping malls, to the whole of Lebanon,” added Randa Slim, director of a panel of experts at the Middle East Institute in Washington DC

Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack, but it would not be the first time that the Mossad has used this method. In 1996, it killed Yehie Ayash, one of Hamas’s top engineers responsible for making the Palestinian group’s bombs. Ayash was killed by an explosive placed in a telephone given to him by a friend.

Netanyahu wants 60,000 displaced people to return to northern Israel

The large-scale attack comes on the same day that the Israeli war cabinet updated the war objectives to include “the return of northern residents to their homes,” according to the statement shared by the cabinet. In northern Israel, thousands of people fled their homes due to the almost daily exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah. Netanyahu had already been pressured to add this objective, but it was only now approved.

News updated at 00:15 with details on the mechanism advanced by American officials