there were 3 grams of explosives in the pager! hezbollah hadn't noticed the problem for months, so why did it suddenly explode?
2024-09-18
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according to xinhua news agency, lebanese minister of public health firas abyad said at a press conference on the 17th that the paging device explosions that occurred in many places in lebanon that afternoon had killed at least 9 people and injured about 2,800 people.hezbollah said that at about 3:30 p.m. that day, a large number of handheld pagers carried by its members exploded almost simultaneously. some media said that this was the "biggest security loophole" of hezbollah since the outbreak of the current round of israeli-palestinian conflict.
▲ambulance transports injured people according to visual china
an official of lebanon's hezbollah said that someone felt the pager was hot before the explosion and then threw it away. the report said that the cause of the large-scale explosion of handheld pagers could not be confirmed at present, but many experts and insiders said that the explosion was likely related to the infiltration of the pager supply chain.
according to previous reports, there was news that the handheld pagers involved in the explosion were produced by golden apollo company in taiwan, china. however, the company's founder responded that the devices were actually manufactured by a european company. in a statement, the company called the european company "bac" but did not disclose its specific address and full name.
us officials:
the pager exploded
or israel's covert operation was uncovered
a senior lebanese security official and another source revealed that the israeli intelligence agency mossad placed a small amount of explosives in a large number of handheld pagers ordered by hezbollah in lebanon a few months before the explosion. the source said that 3 grams of explosives were placed in the pagers and entered lebanon this spring, and hezbollah did not find any problems with them for several months.
so far, israel has not commented on the explosion. however, three us officials revealed that israel detonated the pager because it believed that hezbollah might have discovered one of their secret operations.
▲ screenshot of cctv news on the pager after the explosion
a former israeli official said israel had planned to detonate the pagers in the event of a possible all-out war. another us official revealed that israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and senior officials decided to detonate the pagers after being reported that two hezbollah members might have become suspicious of them.
how did the pager explode?
or was intercepted during transport and filled with explosives
after receiving the code, it was remotely detonated
regarding the location of the explosives, it was previously reported that the explosives were placed next to the batteries. however, carlos perez, director of security intelligence at information security consulting firm trustedsec, analyzed that when the explosion occurred, half of the battery might be explosives and the other half was the real battery.
a former bomb disposal officer of the british army explained that explosive devices generally have five components: the container, the battery, the trigger device, the detonator and the explosives. "the pager itself already has the first three parts. it only needs to add the detonator and the explosives to be detonated."
▲in lebanon, people registered to donate blood for the injured in the explosion. xinhua news agency
a source in lebanon's senior security department revealed that the pager packed with explosives exploded after receiving a coded message. "(israel) mossad installed a small device filled with explosives in the pager, which can receive the code. such devices are also difficult to detect by scanners."
robert graham, ceo of errata security, a us cybersecurity company, proposed a "hacker attack" hypothesis, believing that hackers could have caused the battery of the pager to explode through a page containing malicious code. however, he also pointed out that this is challenging for hackers because they need to know the model of the device in advance, and based on the video, the power of the explosion is far greater than that of an ordinary battery explosion.
"i tend to think that the pagers were intercepted in transit and implanted with malicious code and explosives that could be remotely detonated," graham said.
expert analysis:
plansuch attacks
it may take several months to 2 years
reports indicate that it would take a long time to plan an attack of this scale. although the details are unknown, many experts estimate that such an attack would take at least several months to two years to plan.
the complexity of the attack also shows that the planners behind it have been collecting relevant intelligence. the report said that the attack required the planners to ensure that they could obtain certain access rights to the devices before the pagers were distributed, and to find a way to confirm whether the target of the attack was carrying a pager.
▲ambulance transports injured people according to visual china
sean moorhouse, a former british army officer and explosive ordnance disposal expert, said the scale of the explosion indicated that there were "state-level players" behind it. "mossad is the most obvious suspect. they have the ability to carry out such attacks."
paul pillar, who has 28 years of experience in u.s. intelligence, said this also shows that israel has the ability to infiltrate the other side in a "dramatic way."
israel has also reportedly used communications equipment to carry out bombings in the past. in 1996, yahya ayyash, who was responsible for making bombs for hamas, was killed in a bombing in gaza city while talking to his parents. it was reported that the israeli national security agency (shin bet) planned the bombing.
in 2001, osama jawabri, a member of the palestinian armed faction al-aqsa martyrs brigades who was wanted by israel, was killed in a bombing while going to a public telephone station to make a call. palestinians accused israel of being responsible.
red star news reporter li jinrui compiled from xinhua news agency (reporter xie hao)
editor guo zhuang editor li binbin
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