Analysis of major international media outlets

Since 2015, Mossad Sold Booby-Trapped Apollo Pagers to Hezbollah, Killing Thousands in 2023

Oct 6, 2024, 06:01 AM

New details have emerged about an elaborate Mossad operation to infiltrate Hezbollah communications and sabotage their devices. According to reports by The Washington Post, Israel's Mossad intelligence agency began smuggling booby-trapped communication devices, including Apollo AR924 model pagers and radios, into Lebanon in 2015. These devices were assembled in Israel and marketed through a former Middle East representative of the Taiwanese Apollo company to conceal their origin. The devices were designed to appear rugged, with extra battery life, appealing to Hezbollah operatives seeking equipment suitable for battlefield conditions. Hezbollah was enticed by these devices and purchased them, inadvertently paying millions of dollars to Israel for equipment that would later be used against them. The devices required users to press two buttons simultaneously to decrypt messages, prompting operatives to hold them with both hands. This design feature maximized injuries when the hidden explosives were detonated. Despite attempts to detect tampering, the explosives were meticulously concealed, making them virtually undetectable even if the devices were dismantled or X-rayed. When Mossad remotely triggered the explosives in 2023, as many as 3,000 Hezbollah officers and members—most of them rear-echelon figures—were killed or maimed. The operation allowed Israel to eavesdrop on Hezbollah communications for years while reserving the option to turn the devices into bombs. This represents one of the most sophisticated acts of sabotage in modern intelligence history, significantly impacting Hezbollah's operational capabilities.