The New York Times reported on Tuesday that Israel is behind the explosion of Hezbollah terrorists' pagers in Lebanon.
The report, which quoted American and other officials, said that the operation was carried out by hiding explosive material within a new batch of Taiwanese-made pagers imported into Lebanon.
The pagers, which Hezbollah had ordered from Gold Apollo in Taiwan, had been tampered with before they reached Lebanon, some of the officials told The New York Times. Most were the company’s AP924 model, though three other Gold Apollo models were also included in the shipment, the report said.
The explosive material, as little as one to two ounces, was implanted next to the battery in each pager, two of the officials said. A switch was also embedded that could be triggered remotely to detonate the explosives.
At 3:30 p.m. in Lebanon, the pagers received a message that appeared as though it was coming from Hezbollah’s leadership, two of the officials said. Instead, the message activated the explosives.
The devices were programmed to beep for several seconds before exploding, three of the officials told The New York Times.
Over 3,000 pagers were ordered from the Gold Apollo company in Taiwan, several of the officials told the newspaper. Hezbollah distributed the pagers to their members throughout Lebanon, with some reaching Hezbollah allies in Iran and Syria, according to the officials.
According to reports from Lebanon, Tuesday’s explosions left 11 dead and at least 4,000 injured.
Sky News’ Arabic-language news service reported earlier on Tuesday that the Mossad injected explosive materials into the batteries of the pagers and blew them up by raising the temperature of the batteries.
A Lebanese security source told Al Jazeera that the pagers were boobytrapped in advance, before they reached Hezbollah.
Hezbollah blamed Israel for the explosions and has vowed to retaliate. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi condemned the explosions, calling them a "terrorist act" and blaming Israel.