Source: Israel Involved in Manufacturing Pagers That Exploded in Lebanon

Recent reports have unveiled Israel’s involvement in the manufacturing of pagers that exploded among Hezbollah operatives earlier this week. This operation, described as a form of “supply chain interdiction,” was over a decade in the planning, according to a U.S. intelligence source who spoke with ABC News.

Historically, the CIA has been hesitant to execute similar tactics due to concerns about collateral damage, the same source noted. The complex planning for this operation involved numerous shell companies, with various Israeli intelligence officials and their assets obscuring their true affiliations behind a legitimate business that produced the pagers.

According to the intelligence source, the pagers were equipped with one to two ounces of explosives and a remote trigger mechanism capable of detonating the devices. Since the onset of the explosions over the past two days, at least 37 individuals have lost their lives, while over 2,900 others have sustained injuries, reported Lebanese Health Minister Firass Al-Abyad.

On Thursday, tensions escalated further as Israel initiated airstrikes on Lebanon, prompting a retaliatory response from Hezbollah. The situation between the two has grown increasingly volatile.

Efforts to reach BAC Consulting, the Hungary-based firm that supposedly produced the pagers under the direction of Gold Apollo from Taiwan, have been met with silence. Reports have clarified that the pagers were never physically located in Hungary, with a government spokesperson stating that the company acted merely as a trading intermediary without any actual manufacturing capacity on site.

On the same day, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah addressed the situation, asserting that the organization’s senior figures used older pagers, distinct from the newly supplied ones implicated in the blasts. He revealed that these new pagers had been delivered in the past six months, and an extensive investigation is now underway regarding the incidents.

Nasrallah also noted that some of the devices had not yet been distributed, while others had been deactivated. “Over two days, the enemy wanted to kill at least 5,000 people,” he claimed, adding that there were approximately 4,000 pager devices reportedly involved.