What are pagers and how were they detonated in Lebanon?

What are pagers? Why does Hezbollah use them?

Pagers were small communication devices that were widely used before mobile phones became popular. These devices would display short text messages to the user, which were relayed over the phone by an operator.

Unlike cell phones, pagers operate using radio waves, the operator sends messages using radio frequencies, instead of the internet, depending on the recipient's device.

The underlying technology of pagers, as well as their reliance on physical hardware, is said to enhance security, making them popular with militant groups like Hezbollah, where mobility and security are of utmost concern.

Hezbollah fighters have used pagers as a low-tech means of communication to avoid being tracked by Israel.

Pager. Photo: GI

How did the pager explosion happen?

The string of thousands of explosions across Lebanon began at around 4:45 p.m. on September 17 and lasted for about an hour. The number of casualties is still being confirmed. An 8-year-old girl was among the dead.

Mohammad Mahdi Ammar, son of Hezbollah MP Ali Ammar, is also believed to have been killed. Hezbollah confirmed that two of its fighters were killed.

"Some 2,750 people were injured… more than 200 are in critical condition," said Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad, with most of the injuries reported to be to the face, hands and abdomen.

According to hospital video, the blasts left several Hezbollah members with varying degrees of facial injuries, missing fingers and open wounds to their hips where their pagers may have been worn. Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was also injured in the blast.

Lebanese Civil Defense members carry a man injured by an explosion of a pager in the port city of Sidon, September 17. Photo: AP

Who is behind the attack?

Many parties and many media sources around the world, including Hezbollah, are criticizing and blaming Israel. A senior Lebanese security source and another source said that Israel's Mossad intelligence agency planted explosives in 5,000 pagers imported by the Lebanese Hezbollah group a few months before the explosion.

The pager explosion comes at a time of heightened concerns about tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, which have been engaged in a cross-border war since the Gaza conflict erupted last October.

"We hold Israel fully responsible for this crime," Hezbollah said, adding that Israel "will certainly receive the appropriate punishment for this sinful act."

Israel has remained silent on the incident.

Why haven't similar explosions occurred in Gaza?

According to Hamza Attar from the Department of Defence at King's College London, the same method could not be used in Gaza because Hamas has a deeper level of cyber savvy than Hezbollah.

“They are very capable in telecommunications,” he said of Hamas, noting the efforts the group is making to encrypt communications.

“They don’t use phones or mobile phones. They have their own network, internet and communication and don’t need anything on the ground,” he said.

How does a pager explode?

The cause of the mass pager explosions remains unclear. Some have speculated that the cause lies in the radio network on which the pagers rely, suggesting that the network may have been hacked, causing the system to emit a signal that triggers a response in the tampered pagers (which are believed to be rigged with explosives).

“I think what happened is every Hezbollah [member] at a certain level was hit,” said data analyst Ralph Baydoun.

Other analysts, such as former British army officer and chemical weapons expert Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, have suggested that Hezbollah's pagers may have been tampered with and "wired to explode on command".

A man's bag explodes in a supermarket in Beirut, Lebanon, September 17. Photo: Social Media

The pagers were modified “at production level” by Israeli intelligence, a senior Lebanese source said.

“Mossad inserted a circuit board containing explosive material that can receive codes into the device. It is very difficult to detect it by any means, even with any equipment or scanner,” the source said.

The source said 3,000 pagers exploded when a coded message was sent to them, simultaneously activating explosives.

Another security source said up to three grams of explosives were hidden in the new pagers and “went undetected by Hezbollah” for months.

If the lithium battery of a pager is triggered to overheat, a thermal runaway process will be triggered. Essentially, a chemical chain reaction will occur, leading to a high temperature and eventually the battery will violently explode.

Hoai Phuong (according to Al Jazeera, Reuters)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/what-is-the-news-receiver-and-the-mass-of-crime-in-lebanon-like-the-nao-post312879.html