From shell companies to explosive pagers: How Israel's Mossad executed its two-year plan against Hezbollah

A man's bag explodes in a supermarket in Beirut (File)

Militant group Hezbollah was left shocked on Tuesday when pagers used by its members exploded simultaneously across Lebanon. The explosions killed nine people and wounded at least 3,000.

Citing a Lebanese security source, Reuters stated that the explosives were planted inside the compact communication devices, allegedly by Mossad—Israel's spy agency. Israel, however, has not responded to Lebanon's claims so far.

In fact, ahead of the pager explosions, the United States said that Israel had warned the U.S. about a military operation in Lebanon but gave no details.

Meanwhile, following the deadly pager attack, Iran-backed Hezbollah has pledged to 'punish' Israel. Notably, both sides have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the Gaza conflict erupted last October.

Booby-Trapped Devices Target Hezbollah Members (File)

How was the operation carried out?

According to a New York Times report, the planning for the attack was apparently long in the making and it appeared to be the climax of Israel's month-long operation to target as many as Hezbollah members as possible at once.

Citing 12 current and former defense and intelligence officials , the report further added that the operation was complex

Additionally, a Reuters reported that the explosives in 5,000 pagers were planted by Mossad, but were imported by Hezbollah few months before the attack took place.

It is worth noting that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had earlier warned its members to skip carrying cell phones to evade tracking by Israel's Mossad. This is why the members of militant group have been using pagers as mode of communication instead of cell phones.

Another report by the New York Times stated that even before Nasrallah warned its members, Israel had initiated a plan to create a shell company-Hungary-based B.A.C Consulting, that would pose of pager manufacturers.

Three intelligence officers briefed on the operation told the newspaper that at least two shell companies were set up to hide the identities of Israeli intelligence officers involved in creating pagers.

The company also served ordinary clients but enriched the batteries of pagers sent to Lebanon with explosives. Initially shipped in small numbers in 2022, the orders grew over time.

The order to activate the pagers was given on Tuesday, the report added. The explosion was triggered by sending a beep and a message in Arabic, seemingly from Hezbollah’s senior leadership.