Exploding Pager Attack Puts Spotlight on Tampering Along the Supply Chain

Leaders in the Lebanon-based paramilitary group and political faction Hezbollah warned its operatives to avoid using mobile phone networks to communicate about operations for fear that Israeli forces could intercept messages or track devices. Instead, they advocated for the use of pagers, which run on a different wireless network than mobile phones and are more resilient during power outages or other emergencies.

But that reliance on pagers backfired yesterday, when hundreds of pagers carried by people linked to Hezbollah suddenly exploded, killing at least 11 people and injuring more than 2,700, according to the Associated Press (AP). Victims most frequently suffered injuries to the face, eyes, and hands.

At 3:30 p.m. on 17 September, many of the devices received a message that appeared to come from Hezbollah leadership, beeping for several seconds. The message activated a small amount of explosive material planted next to the battery of each pager, according to briefings from American and other officials. Most of the people hit by the explosions and resulting debris were members or linked to members of Hezbollah, Reuters reported, but casualties included a 9-year-old child.

A second wave of explosions went off today, 18 September, at the site of a funeral for three Hezbollah members and a child killed yesterday, according to AP journalists at the scene. Lebanon’s health ministry says one person was killed and 100 more were wounded.

Hezbollah accused Israeli forces of tampering with the pagers and orchestrating the attack, but Israel has not yet commented on the attack, The New York Times reported.

Hezbollah ordered 3,000 pagers from the Gold Apollo company in Taiwan and distributed them to members in Lebanon and allies in Iran and Syria. Gold Apollo sought to distance itself from the attack, saying that the pagers involved were made by a licensed manufacturer, BAC Consulting, which is based in Hungary.

“The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it,” Gold Apollo founder Hsu Ching-Kuang told reporters in Taiwan today.

Senior Lebanese officials said that the pagers had been modified during production—allegedly by Israeli spy service Mossad—to include a board and explosive device that would receive a code to activate the attack, Reuters reported. Another security source told reporters that up to three grams of explosives were hidden in the pagers, going undetected for months.

Multiple news outlets have noted that BAC Consulting shows all the hallmarks of being a shell company.

Reporters who visited BAC Consulting’s headquarters address in Budapest were told that the company was registered to the site but did not have a physical presence there. Journalists have been unable so far to connect with the company or its representatives. Hsu signed a contract in 2022 to sell Gold Apollo’s pagers to BAC and to let BAC use Gold Apollo’s trademark on its own products, NPR reported. He told reporters that the pagers used in the attack were “entirely different” from his designs, including a chip that Gold Apollo does not use in its own pagers.

Hsu claimed that BAC’s payment transfers were “strange,” with payments being routed through a Middle Eastern bank account rather than one from Hungary. Annual reports for BAC show that it was registered in May 2022 and its most recent annual accounts from May 2024 show a balance sheet of slightly more than $320.

Death toll from Hezbollah pager explosions in Lebanon rises to 12 https://t.co/hQKMUXZDU2

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) September 18, 2024

Hezbollah has promised to retaliate against Israel for the pager explosions. The Israeli military has been engaged in cross-border fighting with Hezbollah forces in Lebanon for months after tensions and clashes increased after the 6 October 2023 attack by Hamas.

Geopolitical security experts noted that the attack is a concerning escalation in the conflict, which could provoke additional military action in the region and beyond. Meanwhile, Air France announced it was suspending flights connecting Paris with Beirut and Tel Aviv through tomorrow due to security concerns.

“Hezbollah has said it wants to avoid all-out conflict with Israel but that only an end to the Gaza war will stop the cross-border clashes,” Reuters reported. “Gaza ceasefire efforts remain deadlocked after months of talks mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

“While they saw a threat of escalation, experts were more skeptical, for now, about the potential for an imminent full-scale Israel-Hezbollah war, which the U.S. has sought to prevent and which it believes neither side wants.”