The explosion of pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday resulted in the deaths of nine people, including an 8-year-old girl, and nearly 3,000 others were wounded.

Credit: Gettyimages

Lebanese security sources claim Israel's Mossad planted explosives inside the devices used by Hezbollah, though Israel has not officially taken responsibility.

Before the explosion, Israel reportedly informed the U.S. Defense Secretary that a military operation was planned in Lebanon but withheld specific details.

The Iran-backed Hezbollah vowed retaliation. The two sides have been locked in ongoing warfare since the Gaza conflict began in October.

The explosions appear to be the culmination of a months-long Israeli operation aimed at targeting Hezbollah members simultaneously.

According to sources cited by The New York Times, Israel’s Mossad planted explosives inside 5,000 pagers imported by Hezbollah months before the attack.

These pagers were manufactured by Taiwan-based Gold Apollo, but the company denies involvement, stating they did not produce the explosive devices.

Due to fears of being tracked by Israel, Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah had urged members not to use cell phones, opting for pagers for communication.

Israel had already established a shell company, Hungary-based B.A.C. Consulting, to pose as an international pager producer to facilitate the operation.

Three additional shell companies were also created by Israeli intelligence to disguise their identities while they built the explosive pagers.

While producing ordinary pagers for other clients, Mossad enriched the batteries of the ones sent to Hezbollah with explosives.

These pagers were smuggled into Lebanon in small batches in 2022, with orders for larger shipments increasing over time.

On Tuesday, the order was given to activate the explosive pagers, triggered by a message in Arabic that appeared to come from Hezbollah’s leadership.