The explosion of wireless pagers that shook Lebanon has raised many questions, especially since it left dead and thousands injured. What are the speculations circulating about the bombing? What is this device? How much explosive material was planted in the devices?
How were communication devices blown up in Lebanon?
The pager is a key element of the party’s communications and is carried by thousands of members. “It is a small wireless communication device developed in the 1960s for use in emergency situations. It relies on sending digital signals via radio waves to notify the user that someone has tried to contact him. Short text messages can also be sent via this device. Before the spread of mobile phones, the pager was a common means of communication, especially among doctors working night shifts and emergency services personnel. It was also used in the military and security fields,” according to Russia Today.
Why do Hezbollah members carry pagers?
“The pager is a relatively old technology that cannot connect to the internet, and therefore it is considered somewhat safe from cyber breaches and common spying and tracking attempts when using mobile or smart phones. This is why it is still used in military and security fields, and this is most likely the reason that prompts Hezbollah members to possess these devices.”
How did the devices explode?
Explanations about the reasons for this matter are still emerging, the most prominent of which is that a chip was planted in all pagers before they were imported and used by Hezbollah elements. This chip was activated through radio waves sent by drones launched in various parts of Lebanon by Israel, so that these waves would detonate the chip or raise the temperature of the device’s battery, leading to its explosion.
Reuters quoted Lebanese sources as confirming that “the communication devices that exploded are the latest model brought by Hezbollah in the past few months.” The Wall Street Journal also reported another theory, from the security company Lubeck International, that “the reason for the explosion of communication devices in Lebanon is most likely malware,” adding that “this software increased the temperature of the batteries, which led to their explosion.”
“These explosive pagers were ordered by Hezbollah from Taiwan, but were tampered with before they reached Lebanon,” US officials told the New York Times, explaining that “the explosive materials hidden in the devices weighed about one to two ounces,” and that “the attack began at 3:30 p.m. Lebanon time, with the devices initially sending a message that appeared to come from Hezbollah leaders, and then that message began to activate the explosive charge.”
In addition, Reuters quoted sources as saying that “a very small amount of explosive materials were planted in 5,000 pager communication devices that the Lebanese Hezbollah requested to be supplied to its cadres.”
The source pointed out that “the amount of explosives distributed in each pager device amounted to only 3 grams.”
In addition, another high-level Lebanese security source told Reuters that “the Israeli spy agency Mossad was the one who planted explosives inside 5,000 pagers imported by the Lebanese Hezbollah months before yesterday’s explosions, and only 3,000 of them exploded.”
US officials also said that “small amounts of explosives were planted in the pagers that Hezbollah ordered from the Taiwanese company Gold Apollo before they reached it.”
Officials indicated that “Israel carried out its operation against Hezbollah after hiding the explosive materials inside a new batch of devices that the party requested to be imported into Lebanon.”
“The devices were tampered with before they reached Lebanon, and most of them were the company’s AR924 models, although three other Gold Apollo models were included in the shipment,” an official added.
“The explosives, weighing no more than 1 to 2 ounces, were planted next to the battery in each pager,” two officials said. “A switch was also included that could be activated remotely to detonate the explosives.”
Independent cybersecurity experts who studied footage of the attacks said it was clear that the force and speed of the explosions were caused by a specific type of explosive material.
“These devices are likely to have been modified in some way to cause these types of explosions, and the size and force of the explosion suggests it wasn’t just the battery,” said Mikko Hypponen, a research specialist at software company WithSecure and a cybercrime advisor to Europol.
“The attacks targeted Hezbollah where they were most vulnerable,” said Keren Elazari, an Israeli cybersecurity analyst and researcher at Tel Aviv University. “This attack hit them in the Achilles’ heel because they took out a central means of communication,” she said, according to the New York Times.
Yesterday, Hebrew media reported that “reports indicate that the type of explosives that were inserted into the wireless pagers that exploded in Lebanon was the highly sensitive material PETN.”
In this context, the founder of the Taiwanese company “Gold Apollo”, Hsu Ching-Kwang, which manufactures radio communication devices, “pagers”, confirmed that “it is not responsible for manufacturing the devices that were detonated in Lebanon yesterday, Tuesday.”
The company’s founder said: “The Taiwanese company “Gold Apollo” did not manufacture the communication devices used in the bombings that occurred in Lebanon.”
Last update: September 18, 2024 – 23:56
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2024-09-19 22:21:28