The American newspaper “Washington Post”, in a special report, revealed new details about the operation and how it was planned and implemented.
In its report, the newspaper relied on interviews with security officials, politicians, and Israeli, Arab, and American diplomats familiar with the events, as well as Lebanese officials and people close to Hezbollah.
The Washington Post’s account reveals how the attack not only destroyed Hezbollah’s leadership ranks, but also encouraged Israel to target and kill Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
In the face of Israeli intelligence superiority, Hezbollah searched for electronic networks resistant to penetration, but… Mossad He came up with tricks that led the party to purchase seemingly perfect devices, designed and assembled by Mossad in Israel.
The Mossad began activating the first part of the plan, introducing explosives-packed walkie-talkies into Lebanon nearly a decade ago, in 2015.
The portable two-way radios contain large battery packs, hidden explosives and a transmission system that gives Israel full access to Hezbollah’s communications.
For 9 years, the Israelis contented themselves with eavesdropping Hezbollahwhile retaining the option of turning walkie-talkies into bombs in any future crisis.
But then came a new opportunity and a “shiny” new product: a device Wireless connection Small equipped with powerful explosives.
Hezbollah ended up indirectly paying the Israelis for small bombs that would kill or injure many of its members.
Because Hezbollah leaders were aware of the possibility of hacking, the radios could not have come from Israel, the United States, or any other ally of Israel.
Therefore, in 2023, the party began receiving orders for large quantities of walkie-talkies bearing the Taiwanese “Apollo” brand, a brand known around the world with no clear links to Israeli or Jewish interests.
The sales pitch came from a marketing official trusted by Hezbollah with ties to…Apollo“.
The marketing person, a woman whose identity and nationality officials declined to reveal, was a former Middle East sales representative for the Taiwanese company who had founded her own company and obtained a license to sell a line of Apollo-branded pagers.
“She was in contact with Hezbollah and explained to them why a larger pager with a larger battery was better than the original model,” an Israeli official familiar with the details of the operation said, adding that “one of the main convincing points was that the device could be charged with a cable, and the batteries would last longer.” “.
As it turned out, production of the actual devices was outsourced and the marketing executive had no knowledge of the process and was not aware that the pagers were actually assembled in Israel under Mossad supervision, officials said.
According to officials familiar with the matter, the Mossad pagers, each of which weighed less than three ounces, included a battery concealing a trace amount of… Explosives The strong one.
Officials said the bomb component was so carefully hidden that it would have been nearly impossible to detect, even if the device had been dismantled.
“You had to press two buttons to read the message, and in practice, this meant using both hands, so users’ hands would be damaged and they would be unable to fight,” one official said.
Controversy in the security establishment
Most of the senior officials were not Israel Aware of this ability until September 12th.
On that day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summoned his intelligence advisers for a meeting to discuss possible action against Hezbollah, according to Israeli officials.
According to a summary of the meeting held weeks later by officials familiar with the event, Mossad officials provided their first glimpse into one of the agency’s most secretive operations.
As the crisis escalated in southern Lebanon, there was growing concern about the discovery ExplosivesAnd the possibility that years of careful planning will quickly come to nothing.
Ultimately, Netanyahu agreed to the operation.
Hassan Nasrallah “The Goal”
- At the same time, the discussion expanded around another very important goal: Hassan Nasrallah same.
- Mossad had known about Nasrallah’s whereabouts in Lebanon for years and was closely tracking his movements, officials said.
- However, the Israelis refrained from assassinating him, certain that the assassination would lead to an all-out war with the armed group, and perhaps with Iran as well.
- On September 17, while debate was raging in security circles in Israel over whether to strike the Hezbollah leader, thousands of Apollo-branded pagers rang or vibrated simultaneously across Lebanon and Syria.
- A short sentence in Arabic appeared on the screen: “You have received an encrypted message.”
- Hezbollah members carefully followed instructions to verify encrypted messages by pressing two buttons.
- In homes and shops, in cars and on sidewalks, explosions tore apart hands.
- Less than a minute later, thousands more exploded remotely, regardless of whether the user touched their device or not.
- The next day, on September 18, hundreds of devices exploded in the same way, killing and injuring users and bystanders.
- This was the first in a series of strikes against one of its most powerful enemies Israel enthusiasm.
- Israel then struck the group’s headquarters, arsenals, and logistics centers with 2,000-pound bombs.
- The largest series of air strikes occurred on September 27, ten days after the pagers exploded.
- Netanyahu ordered the attack, which targeted a command center deep in Beirut.
- The next day, September 28, Hezbollah confirmed that Nasrallah had been killed in the Israeli strike.
