Hezbollah pager explosion: New details show how Mossad planted explosives inside the low-tech communication devices
The serial explosion of pagers used by the Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah last month was one of the most successful and impactful covert operations undertaken by Mossad, the Israeli spy agency. Thousands of pagers, used by many, including some high-ranking Hezbollah operatives, exploded simultaneously on September 17, killing nearly a dozen people and injuring hundreds of others.??
How the explosive was planted?
According to a new report by Reuters, the explosive was hidden inside the batteries of the pagers that were sent to Lebanon earlier this year.??
A thin, square sheet with six grams of white pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) plastic explosive was squeezed between two rectangular battery cells, the report said, adding that the remaining space between the battery cells was occupied by a strip of highly flammable material that acted as the detonator.??
This three-layer sandwich was inserted in a black plastic sleeve and encapsulated in a metal casing roughly the size of a matchbox.??
X-ray couldn't detect explosive
The explosives inside the batteries were so well concealed that even X-rays couldn't detect them. And the efforts paid off as upon receiving the pagers in February, Hezbollah had looked for the presence of explosives, putting them through airport security scanners to see if they triggered alarms, but nothing was found.??
Creating a story to sell pagers?
The report further detailed the lengths that Mossad went to in order to cover its tracks and make the booby-trapped pagers legitimate in the eyes of Hezbollah, which has a serious procurement procedure to check what they buy.??
Mossad even created fake online stores, pages, and posts for nearly a year, while using the brand name of Taiwanese manufacturer Gold Apollo.??
How the sale was made
After creating an extensive background to make their pagers appear legitimate, a Mossad agent, posing as a salesperson, made a very inexpensive proposition for the devices and offered them at a very cheap price, compelling Hezbollah to take the bait.??
The report further said that Hezbollah launched a probe into the pagers after the explosion, but it has not made any significant progress, as the person tasked with the investigation was killed in an Israeli airstrike on September 28.
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