Israeli intelligence agency devises tricks for Hezbollah

Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency tasked with countering foreign threats to Israel, spent years infiltrating the group using electronic monitoring and human sources.

As a result, Hezbollah leaders became increasingly concerned about their susceptibility to Israeli surveillance and hacking, apprehensive that even regular cellphones could be converted into tools for Israeli eavesdropping and tracking, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media.

A new opportunity arose with a flashy new product: a small pager fitted with a powerful explosive. 

Ironically, Hezbollah would end up indirectly funding the Israelis for these tiny bombs, which would ultimately injure or kill many of its operatives. Since Hezbollah leaders were wary of potential sabotage, the pagers could not come from Israel, the United States, or any other Israeli ally. In 2023, the group started receiving offers for bulk purchases of Taiwanese-branded Apollo pagers, a well-known product line with global distribution and no apparent connections to Israeli or Jewish interests.

Officials noted that the Taiwanese company had no awareness of the scheme.   The sales pitch originated from a marketing representative trusted by Hezbollah, who had ties to Apollo. Each pager, weighing less than three ounces, featured a unique component: a battery pack that concealed a small amount of a powerful explosive, according to those familiar with the scheme.  

In a remarkable engineering feat, the bomb was so meticulously hidden that it was nearly impossible to detect, even if the device was disassembled, the officials stated. Israeli authorities believe that Hezbollah may have disassembled some of the pagers and possibly even X-rayed them.  

Mossad's remote access to the devices was also undetectable. An electronic signal from the agency could simultaneously trigger the explosion of thousands of units. However, to maximize damage, the blast could also be activated through a special two-step procedure necessary to view encrypted secure messages.  

“You had to press two buttons to read the message,” an official explained, which meant using both hands. In the resulting explosion, users would likely “injure both their hands,” the official added, rendering them unable to fight.

By Naila Huseynova