Israel reportedly hid explosives within the batteries of pagers it sold to Hezbollah, according to Lebanese government representatives.
Lebanese authorities observed a sequence of planned explosions of some of the weaponized communication devices, as the scrutiny into who concocted these wireless gadgets and how they wound up in Hezbollah's possession persisted.
During the attack on September 17, these gadgets, which were used in the controlled explosions, were turned off, thus evading the message that instigated the affected devices to explode. The security personnel had an unobstructed view of the devastation the blasts would have caused to those carrying the devices and those nearby.
Last week, numerous explosions shook Hezbollah members, primarily targeting their communication devices on Tuesday, followed by walkie-talkies on Wednesday. The blasts claimed at least 37 lives, including children, and left nearly 3,000 injured, according to Lebanese health authorities. The vast majority of the casualties were bystanders. The surprise attack caught Hezbollah off guard, as they had opted for analogue technologies to steer clear of Israeli infiltration after abandoning cell phones.
Israel has refrained from commenting directly on the attacks, but CNN has gathered insights that the explosions were the outcome of a joint effort by Israel's Intelligence Agency, Mossad, and the Israeli military. The day after the attack on communication devices, Israel's Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, commended "outstanding accomplishments, alongside the Shin Bet and Mossad." Both Lebanon and Hezbollah have levied blame against Israel for the attacks.
One of the Lebanese security sources told CNN that the ingenious way the explosives had been lodged within the batteries of the communication devices was untraceable, yet remained silent on the specific tests the devices had undergone prior to entering the country.
A second senior security source maintained that they had examined one of the compromised communication devices and witnessed its controlled explosion. They noted that the explosives were "embedded" within the device's lithium battery, rendering them virtually undetectable. They claimed to have never encountered anything comparable.
An improvised explosive device consists of five fundamental components: A power source, an initiator, a detonator, an explosive charge, and a casing. Sean Moorhouse, a former British Army officer and an expert in explosive disposal, suggested that only a detonator and an explosive charge would have sufficed to weaponize the communication devices, as they already had the other three components.
“It had to be executed in such a manner to remain undetected,” Moorhouse said, implying that one approach could have involved modifying the battery itself – incorporating an electronic detonator and a small amount of explosive within its metal casing, thus making it impossible to detect using imaging tools, such as X-rays.
Other experts, who assessed footage of the blasts, as well, suggested that explosive devices had been concealed within the communication devices, indicative of a sophisticated supply chain attack in collaboration with a state actor.
These conclusions aligned with the preliminary findings of Lebanese authorities. According to a letter sent to the UN Security Council by Lebanon's mission last Friday, a preliminary investigation revealed that the communication devices were fitted with explosives before reaching the country, tampered with "professionally" by "external entities." Lebanese authorities deduced that the devices were detonated by transmitting electronic messages to them, according to the letter, which was obtained by CNN. Israel was responsible for executing the attacks, which detonated thousands of devices concurrently, Lebanon's mission to the UN asserted.
Numerous photographs disseminated following last week's attacks in Lebanon show the remnants of the exploded devices – also recognized as beepers – consistent with a particular model fabricated by a Taiwanese company, Gold Apollo, and shards of walkie-talkies associated with a Japanese manufacturer, ICOM.
Lebanese authorities reported that the devices used in the attacks were Gold Apollo Rugged Pager AR-924 gadgets and ICOM IC-V82 walkie-talkies. Both Gold Apollo and ICOM have distanced themselves from the compromised devices.
ICOM announced that the IC-V82 model was phased out a decade ago, and they could not ascertain whether the devices targeted in Lebanon were manufactured counterfeitedly or shipped directly from their corporation. Counterfeit versions are readily available for purchase online, through platforms such as Alibaba. Lebanon's Communications Ministry declared that the IC-V82 radios used in the attacks were not distributed by an authorized agent, were not legally licensed, and had not been reviewed by the security services.
International investigative initiatives have primarily focused on the Gold Apollo AR-924 gadgets – tracking the model's licensing and manufacturing from Taiwan to suspected shell companies to ascertain how the Israeli operation may have been orchestrated. The New York Times reported, citing three intelligence sources informed about the operation, that Israel had established at least three shell companies to mask the identities of those who fabricated the gadgets – agents from the Israeli Intelligence Agency.
The chairman and founder of Taiwan-based Gold Apollo, Hsu Ching-kuang, was interrogated by Taiwanese prosecutors last Thursday and was subsequently released. A day prior to this, at the nondescript facilities of Gold Apollo on the outskirts of the Taiwanese capital, Hsu, speaking to CNN and other media outlets, vehemently rejected his company's involvement in producing the devices bearing its brand name, instead attributing them to a Hungarian firm, BAC Consulting.
Hsu said that he had entered into a licensing agreement with the Budapest-registered company, transferring "sole accountability" for the production and sale of the AR-924 model. A person named Teresa was one of his contacts for the arrangement, he said.
Teresa Wu, previously employed at Gold Apollo, was spotted leaving the prosecutor's office in New Taipei City last Thursday evening, as reported by Reuters and local media present at the scene. Taiwanese prosecutors consider Hsu and Wu as witnesses, confirmed two high-ranking officials in Taiwan to CNN.
A person familiar with Gold Apollo informed CNN that Wu had left the company a couple of years ago and joined BAC Consulting. CNN reached out to Wu for comment but hasn't received a response yet.
In April this year, Wu established a company named Apollo Systems Ltd., registered under a Taipei address that seems to be a shared workspace, as per corporate records. It's unclear if Wu was working for BAC Consulting in Taipei through her new company, Apollo Systems Ltd.
According to a database managed by Taiwan's International Trade Administration, Apollo Systems Ltd's website address is "www.apollosystemshk.com." The Apollo Systems HK website (previously operational but now shut down) declared having a production and sales hub in Taipei City and a logistics office in Hong Kong. Alas, during CNN's visit to the Hong Kong location, there was no sign of the company.
From December 2022 to February 2023, a YouTube channel for Apollo Systems HK uploaded two promotional videos for Gold Apollo AR-924 pagers, highlighting their "high-capacity lithium rechargeable battery" and other features. On its YouTube channel and website, Apollo Systems HK claims the exclusive rights to distribute Gold Apollo pager systems, including the AR-924 model.
Two senior Taiwanese officials informed CNN that they found no records of Gold Apollo manufacturing AR-924 pagers in Taiwan. Furthermore, these officials confirmed that Gold Apollo only manufactured pagers featuring AA batteries in Taiwan, not lithium batteries as seen in the attacked devices examined by Lebanese authorities, according to CNN's sources.
Gold Apollo shipped over 20,000 pagers from Taiwan to the United States in the first eight months of 2024, as per Taiwanese customs records, cited by the officials. Approximately 5,000 pagers were shipped to Hong Kong, and more than 3,000 to Australia.
The Taiwanese officials stated that they carefully reviewed Gold Apollo's documents obtained from the company's office and its order history and raw component sources, confirming that pager manufacturing is strictly controlled in Taiwan.
In a statement last Thursday, the Taiwanese prosecutors' office declared that "no evidence has been discovered so far suggesting the involvement of Taiwanese nationals in the explosive terror attack."
Investigations into the supply chain are underway in Europe, focusing on Hungarian company BAC Consulting and another firm with links to Bulgaria and Norway, for any potential connections to the pager attack targeting Hezbollah.
CNN attempted to reach BAC Consulting's registered address in Budapest but was informed that the company rented space in the building but no representative has ever been present physically. CNN also contacted BAC Consulting's CEO, Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono, but has not received a response yet.
BNC News reported that Bársony-Arcidiacono confirmed to the news outlet in a phone call that her company worked with Gold Apollo, but she stated, "I don't manufacture the pagers. I am merely the intermediary."
No records of Gold Apollo exporting pagers to Hungary in 2023 or 2024 were found, affirming the two Taiwanese officials, who cited customs records in Taiwan. In 2022, the company exported roughly 200 pagers to Hungary, according to their records.
Hungarian intelligence services interrogated Bársony-Arcidiacono during their investigation into BAC Consulting but failed to discover any evidence of the pagers used in the attack having been produced in Hungary, according to a statement from the government's press office. "The results have conclusively demonstrated that the so-called 'beepers' were never present on Hungarian soil, and no Hungarian company or expert was involved in their production or modification," it said.
Bulgarian authorities are investigating Norta Global Ltd, a firm rumored to have sold the pagers to Hezbollah, as per reports in the Bulgarian media last week. Bulgaria's national security agency, DANS, declared that no pagers used in the attack were "imported, exported or manufactured in Bulgaria," and that Norta Global Ltd had not participated in terrorist financing or dealt with anyone subject to sanctions. Bulgaria's interim Prime Minister, Dimitar Glavchev, revealed in a press conference that Virginia Global Ltd was under investigation, and its director operated by proxy.
Norta Global Ltd was established in April 2022 by Rinson Jose, a Norwegian national, as per Bulgarian business registration documents. CNN has made multiple attempts to contact Jose for comment but has yet to receive a response. Norway's security police have commenced a preliminary probe into the company's reported links to the pagers, as per a police attorney at the Norwegian Police Security Service.
Regarding the blasts, we're almost positive about the conclusion, but we need a bit more time to solidify it, Nasrallah stated. This entire incident is being meticulously probed and analyzed, from the firm that supplied the gadgets, to the production phase, shipping, arrival in Lebanon, and the distribution process, right up to the moment of the explosion.
He further mentioned that although the apparent motive was to eliminate as many prominent Hezbollah officials as possible, most of the leadership managed to stay unscathed due to their use of older pager models, implying that this mode of communication has been in use by the group for some time.
"The newer ones were relocated elsewhere," he seemed to imply, likely referring to the batch of pagers a Lebanese security source disclosed to CNN, mentioning that Hezbollah bought these pagers in recent months.
UN human rights chief Volker Türk told the Security Council last Friday that these incidents signify a new phase in warfare, where communication devices double as weapons, detonating indiscriminately in markets, on street corners, and within homes as the day unfolds. Authorities have reportedly disarmed unexploded devices in educational institutions, banks, and hospitals.
He added that indiscriminately striking thousands of people - be they civilians or military personnel - without prior knowledge of the device's location or its surroundings during the attack, is a breach of international human rights law.
Iran's representative at the UN claimed that Israel aimed to kill at least 5,000 civilians, but some devices malfunctioned or remained undistributed. The delegate reiterated that Israel had once again surpassed a red line, as Iran's ambassador to Lebanon was among the injured.
Senior UN officials warned that this assault represented a watershed moment, urging de-escalation and a truce in Gaza to prevent an all-out conflict in the Middle East. Others emphasized that the technology employed signified "perilous new territory" in the realm of warfare.
Report contributed by CNN's Pallabi Munsi, Katie Polglase, Tara John, Eyad Kourdi and Avery Schmitz.
In light of the recent attacks, the international community is closely investigating the role of both Gold Apollo and ICOM, two companies whose devices were found at the explosion sites in Lebanon.
Furthermore, the World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern over the impact of these explosions on civilians and has called for a thorough investigation to ensure such incidents do not recur in the future, particularly in the Middle East region where tensions are already high.
