Deadly Pager Explosions in Lebanon: Suspected Israeli Cyber Attack Raises Tensions

Hizbollah humiliated by mass pager attack

Hizbollah was reeling on Wednesday from a co-ordinated attack that detonated thousands of pagers carried by members of the militant group, causing mayhem across Lebanon in a humiliating blow to a force once seen as impregnable. A day after the attack that killed 12 people and injured thousands, the group -- also the dominant political force in Lebanon -- was still grappling with the implications of the unprecedented assault, with badly reduced access to what had become a key communication channel. The devices blew up, notably in Hizbollah strongholds, after a coded message was sent to them around 3.30pm on Tuesday, said a Lebanese official with knowledge of the preliminary investigation. There were early indications that the detonations were caused by explosives inserted into the pagers, rather than by a remote cyber attack, the official said. A person familiar with Hizbollah's thinking said that "internally, there are big questions being asked about how this was even possible". "Right now, they are trying to reassert calm after a night of panic and anger," they said. Hizbollah has blamed the attack on Israel, which has not commented. Hizbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah was due to speak on Thursday, leaving people in Lebanon and across the region -- who already feared an escalation of the country's conflict with Israel -- nervously awaiting his response. Israel has also hinted at a broadening of the conflict with Hizbollah after adding to the objectives of its war in Gaza the return of displaced residents to Israel's north, near the border with Lebanon, before the pager blasts. The head of the Israeli army's northern command, Ori Gordin, told troops on Wednesday: "The mission is clear -- we are determined to change the security reality [in northern Israel] as soon as possible." The pager attack left blood-spattered scenes at hundreds of locations across Beirut, including supermarkets, offices, hospitals and homes, as well as striking regional locations and setting off blasts in Syria. Hizbollah said 10 of its members were killed, including the son of a prominent Hizbollah MP and four health workers. At least two of the dead were children aged 8 and 11, however. The pager detonations have embarrassed the powerful militant group in front of a base and a nation weary from nearly a year of the war of attrition with Israel. More than half of the almost 2,800 injured were in Beirut and its southern suburb Dahiyeh, while 750 were scattered throughout the south and about 150 in the Bekaa Valley -- all areas where Hizbollah is dominant. Witnesses spoke of widespread gruesome injuries. "It's like we were on a battlefield doing wartime triage," said one nurse at Bahman hospital in Beirut's southern suburbs, who asked not to be named. "Hands blown off, holes in people's thighs, head and eye wounds -- you name it, we saw it all day. Every hour there were new ambulances coming in. We had to turn people away and send them to other hospitals." Nearly 300 people were in a critical condition, said health minister Firas Abiad, some because of facial injuries, others from massive bleeding. Nearly 500 operations have been performed, including to eyes and faces and amputations of fingers and hands. Hizbollah has long used pagers, but has increased use of the low-tech devices since the start of the Gaza war, which the Iran-backed militant group joined in support of its ally Hamas on October 8. Israel assassinated one of Hizbollah's most senior commanders, Fuad Shukr, in Beirut in July, triggering an internal assessment of its communications vulnerabilities. "But this is worse [than Shukr's assassination]," said the person familiar with the group's thinking. "This attack exposed just how vulnerable Hizbollah truly is -- this was the back-up communications system, and even this was tampered with. Was this network under surveillance for months before this too?" Earlier this year, people familiar with the group's operations told the Financial Times that Hizbollah had switched to lower-grade communications systems in an attempt to evade Israeli surveillance and assassination attempts. Since October, Israel has conducted targeted killings of field commanders and strikes on weapons depots and munitions factories in Lebanon and Syria, alarming Hizbollah's leadership about the level of intelligence its enemy possessed, and in effect triggering a ban on fighters carrying smartphones. The people said the militant group believed Israel was deploying a combination of voice recognition surveillance software, artificial intelligence and spies on the ground to deadly effect, exposing Hizbollah's vulnerabilities. Pagers are carried by some of the group's fighters and military leadership, including near the frontline in Lebanon's south and in Syria where Hizbollah fighters support President Bashar al-Assad's regime. But many plain-clothes members, including some political party officers, low-ranking members, informants and couriers, also carry them, the people said. Some members also have regular jobs outside Hizbollah, meaning many civilians were close to the exploding devices. Tuesday's attack severely hit morale, and was designed to weaken the group's resolve, said the person familiar with its thinking, as the assault reached across the group's base and into the civilian population. "It's an attempt to disrupt our stability, create chaos and weaken the welcoming environment for the resistance," said Assad Ali Baziia, who travelled to a Beirut hospital from the coastal city of Tyre after learning a friend was injured when a pager explosion rocked the restaurant where he was eating. Deeb Badawi, head of the traders' union in Tyre, said the blasts deeply affected the civilian population. "Tyre is in a state of shock. It was a big surprise for everyone . . . it's affected their psyches. There are so many people who were injured who have no party affiliation." Hizbollah has vowed to retaliate. "But they have to think very hard and very carefully about how they do it," said the person familiar with the group's thinking. "We are at the most dangerous point in the war so far."

Exploding Pagers Targeting Hezbollah Kill 8 and Wound Thousands, Lebanon Says

Patrick Kingsley and Ronen Bergman reported from Israel, and Euan Ward from Lebanon. Hundreds of pagers carried by Hezbollah members exploded simultaneously across Lebanon on Tuesday, a day after Israeli officials said they were ready to step up attacks against the Iranian-backed militia. The pagers exploded on sidewalks and in grocery stores, at homes and inside cars, killing at least eight people and wounding at least 2,700 others, Lebanese health officials said. Hezbollah said at least six of its fighters had been killed. Witnesses reported smoke coming from pants' pockets before loud bangs knocked people off their feet. Lebanon's health minister, Firass Abiad, said that one of those killed was an 8-year-old girl and that many victims had maimed hands and injured eyes. The health ministry put hospitals on "maximum alert," and asked citizens to throw out their pagers. Hezbollah has used pagers for years to make it harder for messages to be intercepted. At 3:30 p.m., the pagers received a message that appeared as though it was coming from Hezbollah's leadership, according to two officials familiar with the attack. The pagers beeped for several seconds before exploding. The blasts appeared to be the latest salvo in a conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that escalated after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, and Hezbollah, its ally, began firing rockets into northern Israel in support. Both militant groups are backed by Iran. Although Israeli officials neither claimed nor denied responsibility for the explosions, Israel has a long history of sophisticated sabotage and assassination operations against its adversaries. According to American and other officials brief on the attack, Israel hid explosive material in a shipment of Taiwanese-made pagers imported into Lebanon. The explosive material, as little as one or two ounces, was inserted next to the battery in each pager, two of the officials said. The pagers, which Hezbollah had ordered from the Gold Apollo company in Taiwan, had been tampered with before they reached Lebanon, according to some of the officials. According to one official, Israel calculated that the risk of harming people not affiliated with Hezbollah was low, given the size of the explosive. Over 3,000 pagers were ordered from Gold Apollo, the officials said. Hezbollah distributed the pagers to its members throughout Lebanon, with some reaching the group's allies in Iran and Syria, the officials said. In Syria, the exploding pagers injured at least 14 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitor. Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned what he characterized as "criminal Israeli aggression" and called it a "serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty." Hezbollah also blamed Israel and warned that there would be "punishment for this blatant aggression." The Israeli military declined to comment, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office did not respond to a request for comment. Among those wounded was Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amini, whose pager exploded, injuring his hand and face, according to Iranian state media reports. Mr. Amini was taken to a hospital in Beirut for treatment, and he was expected to recover, Iranian state television reported. The pagers exploded a day after a senior Biden administration official, Amos Hochstein, met in Tel Aviv with Israel's defense minister, Yoav Gallant, in an effort to prevent Israel's conflict with Hezbollah from escalating into an all-out war. In a statement after the meeting, Mr. Gallant said he had told Mr. Hochstein that the window for reaching a diplomatic solution was closing because Hezbollah had decided to "tie itself" to Hamas. "The only way left to return the residents of the north to their homes is via military action," Mr. Gallant said. Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesman, said on Tuesday that the United States was "not involved" in the attack in Lebanon, and that it had not received any advance notice about it. "At this point, we are gathering information," Mr. Miller said. The blasts came as international efforts to negotiate a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip have stalled, and diplomats have been unable to lower tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. Mr. Miller said the Biden administration's message "to both Israel and to other parties" remained that they should seek a "diplomatic resolution." Lebanon's foreign minister, Abdallah Bou Habib, said his country was bracing for Hezbollah's response. "Hezbollah are definitely going to retaliate in a big way," he said in a phone call with The New York Times. "How? Where? I don't know." In Israel, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, the chief of staff, held a security briefing with other senior generals Tuesday evening, the military said in a statement. The officers reviewed "preparation for defensive and offensive operations on all fronts," according to the statement. While no new defensive guidelines have been issued for Israeli civilians, the military said Israelis should continue exercising "alertness." Mr. Bou Habib said that the Lebanese government was preparing to lodge a complaint at the U.N. Security Council. A United Nations spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, said the developments in Lebanon were "extremely concerning," given the volatile situation in the region. "We deplore the civilian casualties that we have seen," Mr. Dujarric said. "We cannot underscore enough the risks of escalation in Lebanon and in the region." The Lebanese Red Cross said that dozens of ambulances had responded to "multiple bombings" in southern and eastern Lebanon, as well as in Beirut, the capital. Lebanese security officials asked people to clear the roads so that victims could be rushed to hospitals. Residents of Beirut's southern suburbs, where many of the explosions took place, described chaos. Mohammed Awada, 52, said he and his son had been driving alongside a man whose pager exploded. "My son went crazy and started to scream when he saw the man's hand flying away from him," he said. "It was like a firework." Another witness, Ahmad Ayoud, said he was in his butcher shop in Beirut when he heard what sounded like a gunshot and saw a man in his 20s on a motorbike fall to the ground. "We all thought he got wounded from a random shooting," Mr. Ahmad said. Although Hezbollah members have used pagers for years, the practice became more widespread after the group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, warned in a speech in February that Israeli operatives could be using members' cellphones to spy on them. He encouraged Hezbollah members to break or bury their phones. As a result, thousands of rank-and-file members of Hezbollah -- and not just fighters -- switched to a new system of wireless paging devices, said Amer Al Sabaileh, a regional security expert and university professor based in Amman, Jordan. He said his information was based on extensive contacts in Lebanese political and security circles. Mr. Sabaileh said that the explosions were a psychological blow for Hezbollah because they showed Israel's capacity to strike anyone connected with the group as they went about their daily business. Israel has a long history of using technology to carry out covert operations against Iran and Iranian-backed groups. In 2020, Israel assassinated Iran's top nuclear scientist and deputy defense minister, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, using an A.I.-assisted robot controlled remotely via satellite. The following year, an Israeli hack of servers belonging to Iran's oil ministry disrupted gasoline distribution nationwide. And in February, Israel blew up two major gas pipelines in Iran, disrupting service to several cities. In 1996, an exploding cellphone killed a Palestinian bomb maker in the Gaza Strip, in an attack widely attributed to Shin Bet, Israel's security service. In July, a bomb planted in a guesthouse in Tehran killed Hamas's political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, hours after he attended the inauguration of the country's new president. Reporting was contributed by Farnaz Fassihi, Matthew Mpoke Bigg, Anushka Patil, Hwaida Saad, Aaron Boxerman, Gabby Sobelman and Johnatan Reiss.

Pagers Explode in Lebanon Killing 9 In Likely Israeli Cyber Attack

Thousands of pagers in use by the Lebanese paramilitary group Hezbollah exploded on Tuesday, killing nine people and wounding nearly 3,000 others, Reuters reported. The group has attributed the attack to Israel. Iran's ambassador to Beirut was among those wounded. The New York Times reported that the materials embedded in the pagers were responsible for the explosion. The material was reportedly implanted next to the battery with a switch that could be triggered remotely to detonate. Who Manufactured the Pagers? According to American and other officials briefed on the operation, Taiwanese company Gold Apollo manufactured the pagers before importing them to Lebanon. However, Gold Apollo told The New York Times that a European company called BAC manufactured them as it has a licence to use the Gold Apollo brand. "We only provide brand trademark authorization and have no involvement in the design or manufacturing of this product," Gold Apollo said in a written statement. Iran-backed Hezbollah stated that it holds Israel fully responsible for the attacks after examining all the facts and current data. Reuters, citing a senior Lebanese source, reported that Israel's spy agency Mossad planted the explosives in the pagers. A US official allegedly confirmed Israel's involvement to the Associated Press. Israel has not made a statement regarding these allegations. According to U.S. State Department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, the incident did not involve the United States, and it had no prior knowledge of it. Hezbollah in its statement said it is conducting a "comprehensive security and scientific investigation" into the explosions. Details of how the explosion took place remain unclear. According to Reuters, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah strictly limited the use of cellphones within the organization earlier this year to avoid detection and surveillance from Israeli forces. Some Context on the Attacks Israel and Lebanon have engaged in missile attacks and counter-attacks since the war in Gaza began on October 7. "This dangerous and deliberate Israeli escalation is accompanied by Israeli threats to expand the scope of the war towards Lebanon on a large scale, and the intransigence of Israeli positions calling for more bloodshed, destruction and devastation," Hezbollah said in a statement. Just today, Lebanon's Foreign Minister, Abdullah Bou Habib filed a complaint against Israel with the United Nations Security Council for bombing a civil defense vehicle in Southern Lebanon, according to Lebanese State Media. On September 17, Israel updated its "objectives of the war" to include returning Israeli residents in the North of Israel, who have been displaced by the war at the Lebanese border securely to their homes. This came after Hezbollah-backed attacks on senior Israeli officials. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that "the possibility for an agreed framework in the northern arena is running out." Israel's Use of AI There have also been reports of Israel using advanced technology during the war on Palestinian civilians. The Israeli military used mass facial recognition technology to conduct surveillance on Palestinians along the Gaza Strip, The Verge reported. Corsight AI, a Tel Aviv-based company, provided its technology to Israel to create a database of Palestinians often asking Palestinian prisoners to identify people from security camera footage installed at various road checkpoints. However, this technology was inaccurate and misidentified multiple people. This led to Israel replacing Corsight images with free images of "known persons" from Google Photos to develop mass facial recognition technology.

Lebanese pagers explosions: What is a pager, how it works and reasons why they may explode - Times of India

A series of explosion of pagers in Lebanon resulted in at least nine fatalities, injuring over 2,700. The blasts occurred on Tuesday (Sep 17) in Beirut's southern suburbs and other areas. In a statement, Hezbollah said that at 3:30 pm (1230 GMT) pagers used by people working for the group's institutions began exploding "mysteriously."A senior Lebanese security source claimed that Israel's Mossad spy agency planted explosives inside these pagers or "beepers" that were ordered months before the blasts.Taiwan's Gold Apollo has refused that it did not make the pagers used in the detonations. Instead, they had been manufactured by a company called BAC which has a licence to use its brand, the company said. What is a pager? A pager is a radio-operated electronic device used for transmitting brief text messages. The device is usually designed to only receive messages, but in some cases can also be used to to send messages. When a pager beeps with a new message, the recipient needs to locate a nearby public or landline phone to respond to the message. Pagers were widely used in the pre-mobile era during the late 1990s. It was a critical communication tool for doctors, journalists and emergency health service providers. There are several types of pagers - numeric, alphanumeric and use case. A numeric pager, as the name suggests, can only display numbers. It is the simplest and easiest pager to use. Alphanumeric, on the other hand, can display both numbers and alphabets. While a use case pager is specially designed for quick alerts and contact information, particularly in professions that require immediate communication. Benefits of a pager One of the major benefits of using a pager or a beeper is the connectivity range. As a pager works on radio frequencies, it can provide network coverage in remote areas as well. Another benefit is that the pagers are difficult to track - a key reason why Hezabollah was using it. Since a pager is usually meant to only receive a message, it is difficult to trace. Also, compared to mobile phones, pagers offer longer battery life and durability. Also, they are straightforward to use, compared to a mobile phone. Why pagers exploded in Lebanon While the exact reason is not known yet, reports suggest that overheating of lithium batteries could be a possible reason behind the detonation. Commonly used in consumer electronics like mobile phones, laptops and electric vehicles, lithium batteries can burn at temperatures near or above 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit (590 degrees Celsius). A Hezbollah anonymously told news agency AP that the explosions were the result of a "security operation targeting the devices." The official claimed that "the enemy (Israel) is behind this security incident." The TOI Tech Desk is a dedicated team of journalists committed to delivering the latest and most relevant news from the world of technology to readers of The Times of India. TOI Tech Desk's news coverage spans a wide spectrum across gadget launches, gadget reviews, trends, in-depth analysis, exclusive reports and breaking stories that impact technology and the digital universe. Be it how-tos or the latest happenings in AI, cybersecurity, personal gadgets, platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and more; TOI Tech Desk brings the news with accuracy and authenticity.