The Lebanese Hezbollah distributed pagers to its members a few hours before they exploded en masse, Reuters reported, citing two sources in the group's security service.
According to one of the sources, one of the Hezbollah members received a new pager the day before it exploded, the explosion occurred while the device was still in the box.
Hezbollah has been checking pagers since 2022 after they arrived in Lebanon, the agency reports. Checks were also carried out at airports to make sure that alarms would not respond to the devices, two more sources told Reuters.
The checks were not carried out because the group had suspicions about pagers: this was the usual procedure for any equipment, writes Reuters. Its main purpose was to detect any signs of explosives or tracking mechanisms in the devices.
Sources confirmed that PETN (pentaerythritol tetranitrate) explosives weighing up to three grams each were planted in the pagers. One of the security sources noted that the explosives were very difficult to detect "by any device or scanner." He did not specify which scanners Hezbollah used to check pagers.
The explosion of pagers, many of which belonged to members of the Hezbollah group, occurred on September 17. More than 4 thousand people were injured, at least 32, including children, became victims. This was only the first attack of this kind: the explosions of walkie-talkies and other equipment in Lebanon, which occurred on September 18, killed 25 people and injured over 600.
As The New York Times (NYT) wrote, citing sources, Israel has created at least three front companies for the production of pagers, one of them is BAC Consulting. In fact, the device was made by Israeli intelligence officers.
An explosive weighing 1-2 ounces (28-56 g) was mounted in each, it was placed next to the battery, and switches were also built into the pagers to remotely activate the explosives after receiving a message similar to those usually sent by the Hezbollah leadership. The devices were programmed to beep for a few seconds before exploding.
Israel did not claim responsibility for the attack. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrullah said on September 19 that the Jewish state, by setting off explosions of equipment in Lebanon, "crossed all red lines," his actions are tantamount to a declaration of war.