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The Israeli intelligence operation that was able to sneak exploding pagers into the hands of Hezbollah members and then detonate them on the unsuspecting terrorists was a work of unprecedented genius.

Now, the Washington Post is out with a story with new details on how the Mossad was able to pull off what has been described as “ingenious” and “James Bond-level” attack on the murderous organization that was as devastating psychologically as it was physically to the 3,000 Hezbollah members who were killed or injured.

“In the initial sales pitch to Hezbollah two years ago, the new line of Apollo pagers seemed precisely suited to the needs of a militia group with a sprawling network of fighters and a hard-earned reputation for paranoia,” the paper reported.

According to the WaPo, “The AR924 pager was slightly bulky but rugged, built to survive battlefield conditions. It boasted a waterproof Taiwanese design and an oversized battery that could operate for months without charging. Best of all, there was no risk that the pagers could ever be tracked by Israel’s intelligence services. Hezbollah’s leaders were so impressed they bought 5,000 of them and began handing them out to mid-level fighters and support personnel in February.”

“None of the users suspected they were wearing an ingeniously crafted Israeli bomb. And even after thousands of the devices exploded in Lebanon and Syria, few appreciated the pagers’ most sinister feature: a two-step de-encryption procedure that ensured most users would be holding the pager with both hands when it detonated,” the paper reported.

Hezbollah never saw it coming. Israeli intelligence had secretly taken over their walkie talkie supply chain in 2015 and had been snooping on the terrorists for years before the more explosive phase of the operation.

The paper reported that an unnamed female marketing official who had gained the trust of the terrorists made the “sales pitch” in 2023 offering the group a deal “on one of the products her firm sold: the rugged and reliable AR924.”

“She was the one in touch with Hezbollah, and explained to them why the bigger pager with the larger battery was better than the original model,” an unnamed Israeli official is quoted by the WaPo. “One of the main selling points about the AR924 was that it was ‘possible to charge with a cable. And the batteries were longer lasting.”

It would be a purchase order that Hezbollah would come to dearly regret.

By “feat of engineering” the explosive component was “virtually undetectable” even if the pager was disassembled, said unnamed officials who said that it is believed that “Hezbollah did disassemble some of the pagers and may have even X-rayed them.”

“Also invisible was Mossad’s remote access to the devices. An electronic signal from the intelligence service could trigger the explosion of thousands of the devices at once. But, to ensure maximum damage, the blast could also be triggered by a special two-step procedure required for viewing secure messages that had been encrypted,” according to the WaPo.

“You had to push two buttons to read the message,” one official said, meaning the terrorists had to use both hands once maimed, “would be incapable to fight.”

X users expressed their appreciation for such an ingenious and disruptive operation that will have Hezbollah guessing about the safety of their devices for some time to come.

It was a morale crushing blow against Hezbollah, one that could disrupt future terrorist operations.

Chris Donaldson
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