Mossad Chief Says Explosives in Israeli Pagers, Walkie-talkies Were Equal to that in a Single Mine

Mossad Director David (Dedi) Barnea revealed that the total explosives in all the booby-trapped pagers used to target Hezbollah were no more than a single standard-size mine—but the psychological impact shattered the group’s confidence.

Speaking at the annual Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) conference in Israel on Tuesday, Barnea described the operation—reportedly killing tens of Hezbollah operatives—as a pivotal moment in Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah.

During his address, Barnea highlighted Operation Pagers as a defining chapter in Israel’s ongoing battle along its northern border. He explained that Mossad had been preparing for a potential conflict in Lebanon since 2006, conducting clandestine missions and gathering intelligence on Hezbollah’s activities. The detonation of the explosive-laden pagers, he said, marked a turning point in the confrontation and accelerated the collapse of Hezbollah’s operational capacity.

Barnea underscored the psychological blow dealt to Hezbollah, asserting that breaking the enemy’s will is more decisive than body counts or missile strikes. "Victory in war is not measured by the number of casualties or the volume of rockets, but by the ability to crush the enemy’s resolve and motivation," he said.

He revealed that the timing of Operation Pagers was a calculated decision, maximizing its impact when Hezbollah had amassed a larger cache of booby-trapped devices. According to Barnea, the first 500 explosive pagers arrived in Lebanon weeks before the October 7, 2023 attacks, and by the time of their detonation on September 17, 2024, ten times as many were in circulation.

The next day, Mossad detonated booby-trapped walkie-talkies that had been dormant for a decade—some exploded during the funerals of those killed by the pager blasts. The series of attacks created panic among Hezbollah members, spreading fear of ordinary devices like electric kettles and air conditioners.

These successive strikes shattered Hezbollah’s confidence and disrupted their command-and-control networks, Barnea asserted.

The Mossad official also praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for approving the operation despite opposition during internal discussions. He pushed back against former defense minister Yoav Gallant’s claim that the strike should have come sooner, arguing that the massive scale of the damage would not have been possible earlier.

“Mossad’s mission is to ensure Israel’s security,” Barnea said, describing the operation as a symbol of their strategy against Iran’s influence in Lebanon.

Barnea emphasized that, despite the limited amount of explosives, the operation caused disproportionate disruption to Hezbollah’s infrastructure. "The combined explosive power of all the pagers and radios did not exceed that of a single standard mine," he said.