Hezbollah Exploding Pagers: What We Know So Far

A man's bag explodes in a supermarket in Beirut, Lebanon on Sept. 17, 2024 in this screen grab from a video obtained from social media. Social Media/via Reuters

Twelve people were killed, including an eight-year-old girl, and thousands were injured when pagers being used by the Hezbollah organization simultaneously exploded in Lebanon on Tuesday, according to Lebanese authorities.

Lebanon’s public health minister, Dr. Firass Abiad, said the pagers exploded in southern Beirut and several other parts of the country and thousands of people were taken to hospital.

What Happened On Tuesday?

It appears that thousands of pagers exploded, apparently over an hour, from 3:30 p.m. local time until 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon.

One video on social media showed one of the pagers exploding in a man’s bag as he shopped at a fruit market.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported 2,800 people had been injured and eight killed, including a child.

The Lebanese government’s public health minister later amended the death toll to twelve.

Lebanon’s health ministry also advised people using pagers to avoid the devices.

Speaking to the BBC, Dr. Abiad said, “Most of the injuries appear to be to the face and especially to the eyes and also the hand with some amputations, whether it’s in the hands or the fingers, and some of them have injuries to their flank.”

“The vast majority of the people who are presenting to the emergency rooms are in civilian clothes, so it’s very difficult to discern whether they belong to a certain entity like Hezbollah or others,” he added.

Dr. Abiad said, “But we are seeing among them people who are old or people who are very young, like the child who unfortunately died... and there are some of them who are healthcare workers.”

Hezbollah confirming at least two of its members were killed, including a member of the Lebanese parliament.

Who Is Behind the Attack?

In a statement, Hezbollah said, “We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression that also targeted civilians.”

They said Israel will, “for sure get its just punishment.”

Israel, however, has so far not commented on the attacks.

Many security analysts say that they believe Israel is behind the attacks.

Charles Lister of the Middle East Institute, told The Times of Israel he believes, “Mossad infiltrated the supply chain.”

“A small plastic explosive was almost certainly concealed alongside the battery, for remote detonation via a call or page,” he said.

Paul Pillar, who spent 28 years in U.S. intelligence, mainly at the CIA, said, “It demonstrates Israel’s ability to infiltrate its adversaries in a remarkably dramatic way.”

Following pager explosions across Lebanon, a person is carried on a stretcher outside Beirut Medical Center in Beirut, Lebanon on Sep. 17, 2024. Reuters/Mohamed Azakir

Why Did The Pagers Explode?

At the moment, there are no facts and only speculation, about how and why the pagers exploded.

The two main theories initially put forward by experts were that the explosion was caused either by the battery, or by explosives. As more evidence emerges, the explosive theory has gained traction.

The theory suggests the pagers were intercepted at some point and small amounts of high explosives were inserted inside 3,000 of them, which were then triggered with a coded message.

Carlos Perez, director of security intelligence at TrustedSec, said, “the battery was probably half-explosive and half-actual battery.”

Sean Moorhouse, a former British Army officer and explosive ordinance disposal expert, said, “Looking at the video, the size of the detonation is similar to that caused by an electric detonator alone or one that incorporates an extremely small, high-explosive charge.”

Commenting on a video of the damage caused by one pager explosion, former CIA analyst Mike Dimino of the US-based Defense Priorities think tank wrote on X, “This was a small plastic explosive charge made to fit into one of the pager components. A battery isn’t doing this.”

Why Does Hezbollah Use Pagers?

In February, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned his people not to carry cellphones, saying they could be used by Israel to target them with drone strikes.

Around 170 Hezbollah terrorists had been killed in targeted Israeli strikes, including one senior commander and a top Hamas official in Beirut, when the decision was made to switch to pagers.

On Feb. 13, Nasrallah told his followers their phones were more dangerous than Israeli spies, and he advised them to smash them up, bury them or lock them in an iron box.

Most members switched to pagers to communicate and were provided with one by the organization.

Who Made The Pagers?

Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from a Taiwan-based company called Gold Apollo, and they were imported earlier this year.

The AP924 model in question, can receive and display text messages wirelessly but cannot make phone calls.

Gold Apollo, whose brand logo appears on the pagers, said they were actually manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, a company based in the Hungarian capital, Budapest.

Hsu Ching-kuang, founder and president of Gold Apollo, speaks to the media at their office in New Taipei City, Taiwan, on Sept. 18, 2024. Ann Wang/Retuers

NBC reported that Gold Apollo’s founder and president, Hsu Ching-kuang, told reporters outside his office in Taiwan, “There is an agent in Europe whom we have cooperated with for three years, they are the agent for all of our products.”

“We are not a big company, but we are a responsible company that cares about our products,” he added.

BAC Consulting KFT has not commented on the incident.

What Is Hezbollah?

Hezbollah is a terrorist organization, backed by Iran, which is deeply embedded in the Shiite community in Lebanon.

It was born in the aftermath of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, and was responsible for a suicide bomb attack in October 1983 on barracks housing U.S. and French troops, killing 305 people.

Hezbollah—which means Party of God—is allied with Syria and Iran and is led by 64-year-old Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, a Shiite cleric.

Since the start of the conflict in Gaza in October 2023, Hezbollah artillery has been shelling northern Israel and in July it killed 12 children when it bombed a soccer match in a Druze village in the Golan Heights.

Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.