Exploding pagers: How Israel is suspected of using technology against its enemies | World news

Israel is accused of carrying out a bold, high-tech and targeted attack on Hezbollah.

The unprecedented mass explosion of handheld pagers in Hezbollah The fighters came after the military group moved away from mobile phones as a means of communication to reduce the risk of persecution by Israel.

No one has claimed responsibility, but Lebanese officials have accused Israel.

The Israeli security services have a long tradition of inventive methods for eliminating their enemies.

Pager explosions: The latest from the Middle East

How pagers could be used as bombs

A security expert who wishes to remain anonymous describes how these devices could be tampered with before they are distributed. For example, explosives could be hidden inside them that could be detonated remotely when a certain signal is sent to the pager.

The source said the “general view I hear is that this was an impressive attack” that required some degree of coordination.

“It looks like the pagers they [Hezbollah] purchased devices could have been compromised and converted into remote-controlled bombs,” said the security expert, stressing that this was merely speculation based on his expertise.

“[It] It appears to be too coordinated and powerful an explosion to be just a malfunction,” he said, adding that it was less likely that the batteries had overheated.

Israel's long history of high-tech warfare

Israel's intelligence services have long been associated with assassinations and clandestine activities involving high-tech bombs and explosive devices. Here is a summary of some of these assassinations:

1972: Bassam Abu Sharif

He was injured in Beirut when he opened a package containing a book implanted with a bomb that exploded. He was a spokesman for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

He survived, but lost several fingers and was deaf in one ear and blind in one eye.

1972: Mahmud Hamshari

A representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was killed in Paris in 1972 when a bomb placed under a telephone was remotely detonated.

1996: Yahya Ayyash

The Hamas bomb maker was killed when he was given a tapped cell phone that contained explosives and detonated them remotely.

Nicknamed “The Engineer,” he apparently helped develop suicide bombs used in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

2000: Samih Malabi

A Fatah activist from the Qalandia refugee camp outside Ramallah was killed when a booby-trapped mobile phone exploded next to his head.

2007: Stuxnet

A powerful computer worm developed by US and Israeli intelligence services that is believed to have crippled an important part of Iran's nuclear program.

Stuxnet was designed to destroy the centrifuges used by Iran as part of its uranium enrichment weapons program.

The worm was reportedly brought into the facility on a USB stick by an Iranian double agent working for Israel.

2020: Mohsen Fakhrizadeh

An Iranian nuclear scientist was killed in Iran by a remote-controlled machine gun mounted on a car.

Mr Fakhrizadeh was travelling in a bulletproof vehicle next to three security personnel vehicles when he heard a sound like bullets hitting his car.

After he allegedly exited the vehicle, a Nissan equipped with a remote-controlled machine gun opened fire and killed him.