A small amount of explosives was placed in a pager that Hezbollah ordered from a Taiwanese (Chinese) company, killing at least nine people and injuring over 2,800.
According to the New York Times (NYT) on September 17, Israel planted explosives in a batch of pagers that Hezbollah had just ordered; the above information was provided by US officials and other sources informed about this operation.
Specifically, Israel carried out an attack on Hezbollah by hiding explosives inside a new shipment of pagers. This shipment was manufactured in Taiwan and imported into Lebanon.
According to officials, the pagers Hezbollah ordered from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo were tampered with before they arrived in Lebanon. Most of the pagers were Gold Apollo’s AP924 model, with three other Gold Apollo models also included in the shipment.
The explosives, which weighed only 28 to 56 grams, were placed next to the battery of each pager, two officials said. A switch was also attached that could be activated remotely to detonate the explosives.
At 3:30 p.m. on September 17 in Lebanon, pagers received a message that appeared to be from Hezbollah leadership and the message triggered the explosion. Lebanon's health minister told state media that at least nine people were killed and more than 2,800 were injured.
These devices are programmed to beep for a few seconds before detonating.
Hezbollah has accused Israel of being behind the pager explosion. Israel has not commented on the attack, nor has it admitted carrying it out.
After studying the video of the pager explosions, independent cybersecurity experts concluded that the power and speed of the explosions were clearly due to some kind of explosive.
“These pagers could have been modified in some way to cause such explosions. The size and power of the explosion suggest it was not simply a battery issue,” said Mikko Hypponen, a researcher at software company WithSecure and cybercrime adviser to Europol.
Keren Elazari, an Israeli cybersecurity analyst and researcher at Tel Aviv University, said the attacks targeted Hezbollah's weakest point.
Earlier this year, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah imposed a strict ban on the use of mobile phones, which he said were increasingly vulnerable to Israeli surveillance.
“This attack hits their Achilles heel because it destroys a critical means of communication,” Ms. Elazari said. “We have seen devices like pagers being attacked before, but nothing as sophisticated as this.”
More than 3,000 pagers were ordered from Gold Apollo, according to officials. Hezbollah distributed the pagers to members across Lebanon, with some ending up in the hands of Hezbollah allies in Iran and Syria. The Israeli strike only affected pagers that were turned on and receiving messages.
It is still unclear exactly what date the pagers were ordered and when they arrived in Lebanon.
Following the blast, Hezbollah said that Israel would face appropriate punishment.
The Pentagon said the United States was not involved in the September 17 pager explosions in Lebanon, while expressing Washington's continued strong support for a diplomatic solution to tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border.
Speaking at a press conference after the incident, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the latest developments in Lebanon were extremely worrying given the already tense atmosphere. He also said he was closely monitoring the situation and regretted the loss of civilian lives.
For their part, although they have not yet officially commented on the series of pager explosions mentioned above, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have met to assess the security situation after the incident.
According to Israeli media, the meeting focused on developing scenarios for how the country could respond in the event of an escalation of tensions.
Hours earlier, local authorities in northern Israel had asked residents to stay near shelters and reinforce safe rooms, citing concerns about the possibility of escalation.
According to VNA
Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/lo-may-nhan-tin-hezbollah-moi-dat-mua-bi-gai-chat-no-post759451.html
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