Israel ‘hid bombs in thousands of Hezbollah pagers & blew them up by sending coded message’ killing 9 & wounding 1000s

ISRAELI spies planted explosives in thousands of Hezbollah’s pagers before detonating them by sending a coded message, a source has claimed.

Hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah terrorists exploded across Lebanon and Syria leaving nine people dead and thousands injured yesterday.

Hezbollah blamed Israel for the attack and vowed to deliver “just punishment“.

The blast saw at least nine people dead and nearly 3,000 injured, including Hezbollah’s terrorists and the Iranian ambassador.

Israel’s Mossad spy agency hid a small amount of explosives inside the pagers ordered by Hezbollah months before Tuesday’s detonations, two sources claimed.

A senior Lebanese security source said the group had ordered 5,000 beepers made by Taiwan-based Gold Apollo, which were brought into the country in the spring.

The pagers been ordered after the group’s leader ordered members to stop using phones in February over fears they could be tracked by Israeli spies.

They said the devices had been modified by Israel’s spy service “at the production level.”

They said: “The Mossad injected a board inside of the device that has explosive material that receives a code.

“It’s very hard to detect it through any means. Even with any device or scanner.”

They added that 3,000 of the pagers exploded when a coded message was sent to them, simultaneously activating the explosives.

The source identified a photograph of the model of the pager, an AP924, which like other pagers wirelessly receive and display text messages but cannot make telephone calls.

The plot appears to have been in the making for months they said.

And another security source said that up to three grams of explosives were hidden in the new pagers and had gone “undetected” by Hezbollah for months.

In response, the Taiwan-based company Gold Apollo said the pagers were manufactured in Hungary using the company’s name.

The firm said: “According to the agreement, we authorise BAC to use our brand trademark for production sales in specific regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are entirely handled by BAC.”

A Hezbollah source said the pagers were “brand new” and had not been used by fighters before.

The pagers started heating up and then exploding in people’s hands or pockets at 3.30pm yesterday afternoon.

The blasts left blood-splattered scenes sent bystanders running for cover.

It appeared that many if not most of those hit were members of Hezbollah.

The blasts were mainly Hezbollah strongholds like the south Beirut suburbs and the Beqaa region of eastern Lebanon.

Pagers also exploded in the Syrian capital Damascus, according to Lebanese security officials and a Hezbollah official.

A Hezbollah official described it as the group’s “biggest security breach” since the Gaza conflict.

Former US intelligence officer in the Middle East Jonathan Panikoff said: “This would easily be the biggest counterintelligence failure that Hezbollah has had in decades.”

Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute said: “A small plastic explosive was almost certainly concealed alongside the battery, for remote detonation via a call or page.”

He added: “Israel’s spy agency “Mossad infiltrated the supply chain.”

Hezbollah blamed Israel and vowed it “will certainly receive its just punishment for this sinful aggression”.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the United States was not aware of this incident in advance and was not involved.