Easy to Transform Pagers into Explosive Devices: Expert

Transforming a pager, an old-school communication tool, into an explosive device is relatively simple because it already contains three of the five essential components needed.

The five components are: a container, a battery, a triggering device, a detonator, and an explosive charge.

"A pager includes three of these components. You would only need to add the detonator and the explosive charge," said Sean Moorhouse, a former British Army officer and explosive ordnance expert, according to AFP.

The explosions reportedly killed at least nine people, including a child, and injured thousands of Hezbollah operatives and civilians in both Lebanon and Syria. Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said Tuesday that the blasts wounded 2,800 people, 200 of them critically.

The attack, attributed to Israel’s Mossad, has raised concerns of a looming ground war between Israel and the Shia militant group, which dominates parts of Lebanon.

Supply-chain Infiltration?

According to a report by Al-Monitor, Hezbollah had procured thousands of pagers to avoid Israel’s interception of cell phone communications. These pagers, considered harder to track than smartphones, had been infiltrated by Israeli intelligence over the course of several months.

Explosive devices, including 20 grams of Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), were reportedly hidden within the pagers before they were distributed to Hezbollah operatives.

"This was more than lithium batteries being forced into override," Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute was quoted as saying by Al-Monitor. "A small plastic explosive was almost certainly concealed alongside the battery, for remote detonation via a call or page."

He claimed that Israel's spy agency "Mossad infiltrated the supply chain.”

A supply chain compromise is certain, as experts noted that pagers typically use AA, AAA, or lithium-ion batteries, which are not usually capable of causing explosions on their own.

Deepa Kundur, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Toronto, suspects a “supply chain deployment” attack, as per Fortune. In this scenario, the perpetrator would embed an explosive charge in a critical component during the supply chain process, unbeknownst to the final vendor. The explosive could remain dormant in the pager for months or years, detonating when a specific message triggers the modified part.

Explosive-Ridden Pagers Nearly Discovered by Hezbollah

The attack came after two Hezbollah members became suspicious of the newly acquired pagers. One of them was killed in the explosion, while the other believed the devices were merely damaged and planned to report this to his superiors. Israel was faced with three strategic choices: initiate a ground war and detonate the devices during the conflict, trigger the explosives before hostilities began to cripple Hezbollah’s logistics, or delay and risk the discovery of the operation. Ultimately, the second option was chosen, catching Hezbollah off guard and inflicting significant damage on its personnel.

Taiwan-origin Pager was Produced by Hungarian company

Manufactured in Taiwan under the Gold Apollo brand, the devices were actually produced by a Hungarian firm, BAC Consulting, which had licensed the branding rights. The pagers were primarily of the AP924 model, although other models were also involved.

The exact number of pagers involved in the attack remains uncertain, with estimates ranging between three and five thousand devices.

Gold Apollo founder Hsu Ching-Kuang told reporters that his company did not manufacture the pagers involved. Gold Apollo had been collaborating with BAC for about three years, interested in leveraging BAC's engineering to produce pagers under Gold Apollo’s brand. Hsu had only communicated with BAC’s chief via video calls. Founded in 1995, Gold Apollo sells alphanumeric pagers and restaurant beepers.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs stated that the pagers were likely modified, noting that the battery used has only the capacity of an AA battery and thus should not cause death or injury from an explosion.

Long-Term Planning Involved in Carrying Out This Coordinated Operation

Initial reports from Israeli media confirmed Mossad’s involvement, suggesting that the explosive devices had been planted in the pagers five months ago before they were distributed to Hezbollah. The devices, originally intended for use by medical personnel such as doctors and nurses, detonated remotely in a sophisticated operation.