IDF says it helped plan exploding pager operation, told Mossad to hold off until focus shifted north

The IDF says it played a key role in the so-called pager operation against Hezbollah, during which thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies exploded in the hands of members of the terror group some three months ago.

The operation began some 10 years ago as a joint IDF and Mossad project, as part of preparations in the military to surprise its enemies during a war. The Mossad’s role in the operation was revealed earlier this week by two former agents who appeared on CBS, but now the army is also revealing details about its part in the plan.

Israeli intelligence efforts ramped up from the beginning of the ongoing war with an eye toward implementing the plan. The army says a team of intel experts operated out of a secret surveillance base in northern Israel to bring together the research, surveillance and operational capabilities relating to the project.

The IDF recommended holding off on deploying the exploding pagers until the northern front became the main front of the war, and not at an earlier stage when the primary front was still the Gaza Strip. The pagers were set off on September 17, and a day later walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah also blew up.

The military says the level of intelligence that it had on Hezbollah, and the correct and effective use of the intelligence, was crucial to defeating the terror group.

The intelligence enabled the IDF to degrade Hezbollah’s capabilities and target its top commanders while keeping the terror group in the dark, especially its late leader Hassan Nasrallah, according to the military.

In the days following the pager operation, the Israeli Air Force hit thousands of targets across Lebanon, taking out most of the terror group’s rocket and drone capabilities. Nasrallah was assassinated when Israel bombed his bunker in Beirut on September 27, days before the IDF launched its ground offensive in Lebanon.