Israeli intel officers used front companies to hide link to pager company, began shipping devices in 2022 – NYT

BAC Consulting, which reportedly manufactured and supplied thousands of pagers that exploded in an attack on Hezbollah members on Tuesday, is an Israeli front company, the New York Times reports.

Three intelligence officers briefed on the operation tell the newspaper that at least two other shell companies were created to obscure the fact that the manufacturers of the pagers were Israeli intelligence officers. Some earlier reports have suggested that Israel could have tampered with pagers that had already been manufactured.

According to the NYT report, the pagers began to be shipped to Lebanon in 2022, but supply was increased when Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah denounced the use of cellphones as operationally unsafe.

Thousands were distributed to officers in the terror group, as well as their allies, the Times reports.

While Israel has not admitted that it was behind the attack in which at least 12 were killed and hundreds injured when the small explosive charges stashed inside the pagers were triggered, 12 current and former defense and intelligence officials who were briefed on the attack tell the New York Times that Israel was responsible.

A day later, walkie-talkies used by the terror group’s members also exploded, in an apparent second wave of the attack.

This video grab, shows a walkie-talkie that was detonated inside a house in an attack on Hezbollah members widely blamed on Israel, in Baalbek, east Lebanon, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo)