'If iPhones were leaving factory with explosives inside..." Edward Snowden reacts to pager, walkie-talkie explosions

The serial blasts in Lebanon and Syria, on Tuesday and Wednesday, where communication devices used by the militant outfit Hezbollah, like pagers and walkie-talkies, were detonated remotely, allegedly by Israel, are widely seen as a new kind of warfare. While this is not the first time Israel has used a communication device to carry out a covert explosion, the scale of Tuesday's and Wednesday's blasts has taken everyone, including intelligence agencies and the tech industry, by surprise.

CREDIT: REUTERS

How did Israel plant explosives

The pagers that exploded on Tuesday were manufactured by Budapest-based BAC, using the brand name of Taiwanese manufacturer Gold Apollo, and the walkie-talkies were made by a Japanese company called Icom.

While it is widely believed that Israel was able to rig the pagers with explosives during the manufacturing process, it is unclear how the walkie-talkies, which the Japanese telecom company stopped producing in 2014, were blown up.

Also read: How Mossad turned the outdated pager into a weapon against Hezbollah

CREDIT: REUTERS

'What if iPhones have explosives inside'

The indication that the explosives were implanted during the manufacturing process has raised some alarms, with many questioning its wider implications.

Former NSA intelligence contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden asked how the world would have reacted if iPhones had explosives hidden in them in the factories.

"If it were iPhones that were leaving the factory with explosives inside, the media would be a hell of a lot faster to cotton on to what a horrific precedent has been set today. Nothing can justify this. It's a crime. A crime. And everyone in the world is less safe for it," Snowden said on X.

If it were iPhones that were leaving the factory with explosives inside, the media would be a hell of a lot faster to cotton on to what a horrific precedent has been set today. Nothing can justify this. It's a crime. A crime. And everyone in the world is less safe for it.

¡ª Edward Snowden (@Snowden) September 17, 2024

CREDIT: REUTERS

'NSA has been poisoning consignments'

He also posted about how the NSA used to intercept commercial shipments in transit to spy on their recipients.

I keep thinking about this Top Secret photo from the revelations of mass surveillance back in 2013, revealing how the NSA poisoned commercial shipments in transit (often at airports) to spy on the ultimate recipients. Ten years later, and shipment security never improved. pic.twitter.com/p7hPwXABjT

¡ª Edward Snowden (@Snowden) September 17, 2024

Hezbollah promises retaliation

At least 37 people were killed, including two children, and some 3,000 were wounded in the explosion of pagers and walkie-talkies on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who spoke for the first time since the blasts, described them as a ¡°severe blow¡± ¡ª for which he promised to retaliate.

Also read: Hezbollah, Hamas and Houthis - How Iran built its 'Axis of Resistance' against Israel

CREDIT: REUTERS

"The enemy crossed all boundaries and red lines. The enemy will face a severe and fair punishment from where they expect and don¡¯t expect," Nasrallah said.

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