Israeli Spies Likely Put Explosives in Hezbollah's Pagers
A massive strike targeting hundreds of Hezbollah operatives and their associates via exploding pagers was likely the culmination of a complex intelligence operation that took months to execute, according to a Rolling Stone analysis of images and videos related to the attack.
More than 2,800 people have been reported injured in the wave of blasts, with at least eight confirmed deaths, Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad said in a televised press conference. At least one child was injured, he said, adding that hospitals were overwhelmed. Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the attacks.
As news of injuries related to exploding pagers across Beirut and southern Lebanon began to spread, so too did rumors that Hezbollah operatives were being targeted in a cyberwarfare operation designed to make batteries used in secure communications devices “explode.”
Videos of the exploding devices indicate the effect was unlikely to have been achieved due to a “hack” or cyberwarfare operation, a U.S. source tells Rolling Stone — an assertion consistent with this reporter’s prior experience with munitions, and advanced military training in both explosives and electrical engineering.
Instead, it is far more likely that an intelligence organization intercepted the devices at some point prior to delivery and retrofitted them with internal explosives designed to be triggered remotely. Hezbollah operatives use pagers because, in theory, encrypted messages sent to and from such devices can be more difficult to intercept and decipher than voice communications or smartphone-based app messaging services.
