Israel has been preparing an operation in Lebanon for a long time, for which a front company in Europe was set up to produce explosive pagers, The New York Times reported, citing sources.
The company in question is Hungarian BAC Consulting, which posed as an international company and contracted Taiwanese Gold Apollo to assemble the devices. It is alleged that the company was supposedly “part of the Israeli front.” At least two other shell companies were set up to hide the involvement of Israeli intelligence.
BAC produced conventional pagers for all customers except Hezbollah. The gadgets supplied to Lebanon contained batteries packed with explosives, the paper’s interlocutors said. The pagers began entering Lebanon in the summer of 2022 in small batches, but production ramped up after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said mobile phones were insecure and banned them from the group’s meetings.
US intelligence officials said thousands of pagers were shipped into the country and distributed to Hezbollah fighters and allies. To make the devices detonate, Israel sent a message to them in Arabic that purported to be from the group’s top leadership.
Wireless communication devices and other electronics have exploded en masse twice in Lebanon in the past two days. The first series of explosions occurred on September 17 – pagers detonated across the country. Twelve people died and more than 4,000 were injured.
The second wave of explosions happened on September 18. Radios and other electronic devices detonated in different parts of Lebanon. At least 20 people died, including nine Hezbollah fighters. More than 450 people were injured.
Production of the radios that exploded in Lebanon ended a decade ago
The radios that exploded in Lebanon were taken out of production more than 10 years ago, Japanese walkie-talkie maker Icom said.
The radios were taken out of production about 10 years ago and have not been supplied by the company since then, the company shared details, commenting on the situation with the spontaneous detonation of the IC -V82 model radios.
According to Icom, the company has long stopped producing batteries that power the main unit of the radios. In addition, the exploded devices did not have a holographic seal, which is necessary to distinguish original products from counterfeit ones, so it is impossible to confirm the dispatch of those particular radios by the company, the company summarised.
Netanyahu and Gallant will launch a full-scale war against Lebanon
Israel’s military cabinet has given the green light to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant to launch a full-scale offensive operation.
Tel Aviv’s readiness to launch a large-scale military operation was reported by Israel’s Channel 12. Given the IDF’s plans, this involves a fairly long stretch of the “northern territories”, which are actually the southern part of Lebanon, where a “buffer zone” is to be created.
Israel is shifting the focus of hostilities to the north
Gallant announced the beginning of a new stage of the war and the transfer of part of the military forces from the Gaza Strip to the north, where the country borders Lebanon. Israeli Netanyahu promised to return the residents of the north to their homes. The day before, an Israeli division was moved from the Gaza Strip to the north. Mr. Gallant told soldiers at the Ramat David airbase, according to The Times of Israel:
The center of gravity is moving north. We are diverting forces, resources, and energy toward the north…We have not forgotten the hostages and we have not forgotten our tasks in the south. This is our duty and we are performing it at the same time.
According to the defence minister, the military’s goal in the north is “simple and clear”: the safe return of residents. Benjamin Netanyahu also said in an address to Israelis:
I have already said, we will return the residents of the north to their homes safely. And that is exactly what we will do.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Chief of General Staff approved defence and offensive plans for the northern front.
There were three IDF divisions in the Gaza Strip – the 98th, 162nd and 252nd. On September 18, it became known that the 98th Division would be moved to the north. The decision was taken after numerous pager and electronics bombings in Lebanon, for which Lebanese Hezbollah blamed Israel and threatened to retaliate.
South Africa has documents on the facts of genocide by Israel
South Africa is ready to hand over documents to the ICC on the facts of genocide in the Gaza Strip on the part of Israel, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a conversation with journalists.
African President also noted:
We are persistently investigating these cases and we are going to present our facts and evidence to the International Court of Justice next month.
Israel’s “shift of attention” judging by the pager blasts, etc. was planned in advance. At the same time, the US and Europe are not making any statement about Israel’s use of de facto terrorist methods when thousands of civilians have been affected by the device blasts.
Meanwhile, only individual politicians have voiced their opinions on the blasts. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of France Unbowed (LFI) wrote on X:
If there is anyone left in power in France who respects our country’s historical commitments, it’s time to take action to prevent Netanyahu from invading Lebanon! What is the prime minister doing? Where is the president?
Mélenchon also added:
EU countries allow genocide in Gaza. They allow aggression in Lebanon. They allow Netanyahu to mine European industries to kill their users. Is the European Union at war with Netanyahu?
The pager blasts could be the first salvo of Israel’s long military campaign against Lebanon’s Hezbollah or the latest covert operation against Iran’s allies, military analysts said. It is also possible that the Israelis initiated the operation because there was a time limit on how long it could go undetected. The pager bombings could have been important in restoring the reputation of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, badly tarnished by the failures surrounding the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Exploding devices in Lebanon and the possibility of mass production of such “weapons” takes terrorism to a new level. It is a global threat to all countries; international institutions must develop measures against such crimes. Otherwise, no one can feel safe.
