A riddle wrapped in a pager: What we know about the Hezbollah beeper blasts
Devices, apparently produced by Taiwan-based manufacturer, caused damage inconsistent with known cases of lithium battery failure; may have been tampered with electronically
At least 9 people were killed and around 2,800 wounded when pagers used by members of the Hezbollah terror group detonated simultaneously across Lebanon on Tuesday.
Here’s what we know so far about the pager blasts.
When and where did the blasts take place?
The detonations started around 3:30 p.m. local time in the south of Lebanon, the southern suburbs of Beirut known as Dahiyeh, and the eastern Bekaa valley — all Hezbollah strongholds.
They lasted for around an hour, with Reuters witnesses and residents of Dahiyeh saying they could still hear explosions at 4:30 pm local time.
According to security sources and footage reviewed by Reuters, some of the detonations took place after the pagers rang, causing the fighter to put their hands on them or bring them up to their faces to check the screen.
How big were the explosions?
The blasts were relatively contained, according to footage reviewed by Reuters. In two separate clips from the CCTV footage of supermarkets, the blasts appeared to only wound the person wearing the pager or closest to it.
BREAKING via Reuters
Hundreds of members of Hezbollah were seriously wounded on Tuesday when the pagers they use to communicate exploded.
Here is one video of one of the pager explosions. pic.twitter.com/UDepHvkkEe
— Yashar Ali ???? (@yashar) September 17, 2024
Footage taken at hospitals and shared on social media appeared to show individuals with injuries of varying degrees, including to the face, missing fingers, and gaping wounds at the hip where the pager was likely worn.
The blasts did not appear to cause major damage or start any fires.
What type of pager exploded?
Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo, a Taiwan-based pager manufacturer.
The firm did not immediately reply to questions from Reuters. Hezbollah did not reply to questions from Reuters on the make of the pagers.
Hezbollah fighters had begun using pagers as a low-tech means to try and avoid Israeli tracking of their locations, two sources familiar with the group’s operations told Reuters earlier this year.
Three security sources told Reuters that the pagers that detonated were the latest model brought in by Hezbollah in recent months.
What caused the pagers to explode?
Hezbollah said it was carrying out a “security and scientific investigation” into the causes of the blasts.
Diplomatic and security sources speculated that the explosions could have been caused by the devices’ batteries detonating, possibly through overheating.
Experts were mystified by the explosions but several who spoke to Reuters said they doubted the battery alone would have been enough to cause the blasts.
Paul Christensen, an expert in lithium-ion battery safety at Newcastle University said the level of damage caused by the pager explosions seemed inconsistent with known cases of such batteries failing in the past.
“What we’re talking about is a relatively small battery bursting into flames. We’re not talking of a fatal explosion here. I’d need to know more about the energy density of the batteries, but my intuition is telling me that it’s highly unlikely,” he said.
SMEX, a Lebanese digital rights organization, told Reuters that Israel could have exploited a weakness in the device to cause it to explode. It said the pagers could also have been intercepted before reaching Hezbollah and either tampered with electronically or implanted with an explosive device.
Israeli intelligence forces have previously placed explosives in personal phones to target enemies, according to prior reporting in the book “Rise and Kill First.” Hackers have also demonstrated the ability to inject malicious code into personal devices, causing them to overheat and explode in some instances.
What have authorities said about the blast?
Lebanon’s foreign ministry called the explosions an “Israeli cyberattack,” but did not provide details on how it had reached that conclusion, while the country’s information minister said that the attack was an assault on Lebanon’s sovereignty.
The Israeli military declined to comment to Reuters questions on the pager blasts, and officials have remained silent on the matter.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
