Two former Israeli intelligence agents have revealed how members of the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah used Israeli walkie-talkies laced with explosives for ten years before they were detonated in a surprise attack in September this year.
The two former Mossad agents told CBS News how the service tricked Hezbollah into buying thousands of rigged walkie-talkies and pagers without knowing they were made in Israel.
Dozens of people were killed and thousands injured in the attacks. Israel said it was tailored to target only Hezbollah members, but civilians were also among the victims, Lebanese officials said.
The UN human rights chief described the attack as a war crime.
At the time of the attack, Israel and Hezbollah were in a conflict that had intensified since Hezbollah fired on Israeli positions a day after Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.
On September 17, 2024, thousands of pagers exploded simultaneously across Lebanon, particularly in areas with a heavy Hezbollah presence. The explosions injured or killed users and some people nearby, spreading panic and confusion. The next day, walkie-talkies exploded in the same way, killing and injuring hundreds more.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted two months later that Israel was responsible, Israeli media reported at the time.
In an interview with the BBC’s US broadcast partnerthe two former agents revealed details of the operation.
One of the agents named Michael said that the Mossad had hidden an explosive device in the batteries of the walkie-talkies, which were usually carried in a vest closer to the wearer’s heart.
He said Hezbollah unwittingly bought over 16,000 walkie-talkies at “a good price” from a fake company a decade ago.
“We have an incredible variety of opportunities to create foreign companies that cannot be traced back to Israel,” said Michael. “Shell companies via shell companies influence the supply chain in our favor.”
“We are creating an illusory world. We are a global production company. We write the script, we are the directors, we are the producers, we are the main actors and the world is our stage.”
According to CBS, the operation expanded to include pagers two years ago.
Mossad discovered that Hezbollah was buying pagers from a Taiwanese company called Gold Apollo at that time, they said. They created a fake company that used the name “Gold Apollo” on pagers equipped with explosives without the parent company knowing.
CBS said the Mossad planted explosives powerful enough to only injure the user.
“We triple, double and multiple test everything to make sure the damage is minimal,” said the second agent, whom the program called Gabriel.
It said that the Mossad specifically selected a ringtone that would sound urgent enough for someone to check the incoming message.
Gabriel said the agency tricked Hezbollah into buying the pagers, creating promotional films and brochures and distributing them on the Internet.
“When they buy from us, they have no idea they are buying from Mossad,” he said. “We do it like the (movie) Truman Show, everything is controlled by us behind the scenes.”
CBS said Hezbollah had purchased 5,000 of the booby-trapped pagers by September 2024.
They were triggered from Israel when the Mossad feared that Hezbollah was suspicious, it was said.
The explosions sent shockwaves across Lebanon. Detonations occurred everywhere the pagers were transported, including in supermarkets. Hospitals were overwhelmed with injured people, many of whom were mutilated.
Gabriel said there was a “strong rumor” that people were also victims of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Days later, with Hezbollah still reeling from the attack, Israel began heavy waves of airstrikes against Hezbollah targets, followed by a ground invasion of Lebanon.
On November 26, both sides agreed to a ceasefire.
Lebanon strongly condemned the pager and walkie-talkie attacks, while the UN human rights chief, Volker Turk said they left him “horrified.”.
The method of attack, he said, “violates international human rights law and, where appropriate, international humanitarian law.”
