Israel's intelligence reveals details of pager operation targeting Hezbollah
Illustrative photo: Details of Hezbollah pager explosions have been revealed (Getty Images)
Hezbollah was previously forced to abandon high-tech devices and smartphones, which could easily be tracked. The Islamist group sought "armored" pagers and Israeli intelligence saw this as a great opportunity, according to Israeli news service Channel 12.
Representatives of Israel's foreign intelligence service, Mossad, shared new details with journalists about the operation involving the simultaneous detonation of thousands of pagers in September of this year, which dealt a heavy blow to Hezbollah.
It was noted that the release of these details had already been approved by Israeli military censors.
Mossad officials said that Hezbollah's Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah had personally witnessed pagers exploding on several key commanders of the group. This left a significant impression on him.
The pager explosions took place during a Hezbollah command meeting, where Nasrallah was present.
Following the explosions, the group abandoned high-tech devices and smartphones due to the risk of being tracked.
Hezbollah decided to acquire "armored" pagers to ensure their fighters would not fear using them actively in field and combat conditions.
Israeli intelligence began preparing the "rigged" pagers, while simultaneously launching disinformation through Hezbollah's suppliers to convince them to purchase this particular model.
The armored devices pleasantly surprised Hezbollah, which later equipped thousands of its fighters with the new devices prepared by Mossad.
According to Israeli media reports, the simultaneous explosions, which affected around 4,000 Hezbollah fighters, were triggered by an encrypted message that required pressing two buttons at the same time to read.
The report also indicates that after this operation, Hezbollah's capabilities were significantly reduced just before the Israeli Defense Forces' ground operation in Lebanon. This had a "significant deterrent effect" on the Iran-backed group and Tehran.
Hezbollah pager explosions
On September 17, thousands of bomb-laden pagers and hundreds of radios used by Hezbollah militants were detonated in Lebanon.
Following the attack, media reports and officials from several Middle Eastern countries indicated that Israel was behind the strike, although the country initially did not claim responsibility.
On November 10, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly acknowledged that Israel was behind the attacks on Hezbollah using pagers and radios.
