Mossad Chief Unveils New Details on Israel's Pager Attack in Lebanon
26 شباط 2025 07:00
Mossad Director David Barnea revealed new details of the Israeli spy agency's September terror attack targeting members of Hezbollah using exploding pagers and walkie-talkies.
While speaking to the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), a think tank affiliated with Tel Aviv University in Israel, Barnea stated, "The first shipment containing only 500 beepers arrived in Lebanon a few weeks before the October 7 massacre," referring to Hamas' 2023 attack on Israeli settlements and military bases enforcing the siege on Gaza.
The Lebanese resistance movement entered the war in a limited way to support Hamas and Palestinians the following day, as Israel's mass bombardment of Gaza was underway.
The pager and radio attacks "showed intelligence, penetration, and a deep understanding of the adversary, technological superiority, and first-rate operational capabilities," Barnea added.
According to a former Israeli intelligence agent known as Michael, Hezbollah bought more than 16,000 of the exploding devices.
When Mossad chief Barnea gave the green light to launch the terror attack almost a year later, in September 2024, the pagers and walkie-talkies were detonated on subsequent days.
Some 42 Hezbollah fighters and civilians, as well as two children, were killed in the attack, while about 4,000 were injured. Many lost their hands and eyes or had their stomachs ripped open by the explosions.
Michael said the walkie-talkie batteries, which included explosive devices, were made in Israel at a Mossad facility.
Mossad then set up shell companies to infiltrate the supply chain and sell the devices to Hezbollah. The walkie-talkies were designed to go into armored tactical vests used in battle.
Mossad director Barnea explained further, “The beeper operation is young compared to the radio operation, which was launched in the previous decade with Tamir Pardo and Yossi Cohen. The idea for the beepers arose from the fact that the radio operation was ineffective in all combat. So we thought of another way to hit Hezbollah terrorists with a device that was always close to them.”
“At the time the beeper operation was activated, 10 times more beepers were detonated than we had at the beginning of the war, and twice as many radios were detonated,” Barnea explained.
"Activating both operations (the beepers and the radios) at the beginning of the war would not have led to the powerful achievement that we achieved at the time of its activation."
Barnea claimed that "the operation symbolizes the turning point in the war in the north and the starting point for the ten days during which the tide turned against our enemies. A clear line can be drawn in the war in the north - from the beepers to the elimination of Nasrallah to the ceasefire."
After the pagers and walkie-talkies exploded, Israel launched a massive bombing campaign in Lebanon that killed several thousand Lebanese, including Hezbollah fighters and civilians, while displacing over a million Lebanese from their homes in the country's south.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated shortly thereafter, on September 27, 2024, when the Israeli Air Force dropped over 80 tons of bombs on a compound in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
"Hezbollah suffered a very severe blow that broke the organization's morale. Victory in the war is not measured by the number of deaths or missiles but by victory over the morale and motivation of the enemy," Barnea claimed.
While speaking to the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), a think tank affiliated with Tel Aviv University in Israel, Barnea stated, "The first shipment containing only 500 beepers arrived in Lebanon a few weeks before the October 7 massacre," referring to Hamas' 2023 attack on Israeli settlements and military bases enforcing the siege on Gaza.
The Lebanese resistance movement entered the war in a limited way to support Hamas and Palestinians the following day, as Israel's mass bombardment of Gaza was underway.
The pager and radio attacks "showed intelligence, penetration, and a deep understanding of the adversary, technological superiority, and first-rate operational capabilities," Barnea added.
According to a former Israeli intelligence agent known as Michael, Hezbollah bought more than 16,000 of the exploding devices.
When Mossad chief Barnea gave the green light to launch the terror attack almost a year later, in September 2024, the pagers and walkie-talkies were detonated on subsequent days.
Some 42 Hezbollah fighters and civilians, as well as two children, were killed in the attack, while about 4,000 were injured. Many lost their hands and eyes or had their stomachs ripped open by the explosions.
Michael said the walkie-talkie batteries, which included explosive devices, were made in Israel at a Mossad facility.
Mossad then set up shell companies to infiltrate the supply chain and sell the devices to Hezbollah. The walkie-talkies were designed to go into armored tactical vests used in battle.
Mossad director Barnea explained further, “The beeper operation is young compared to the radio operation, which was launched in the previous decade with Tamir Pardo and Yossi Cohen. The idea for the beepers arose from the fact that the radio operation was ineffective in all combat. So we thought of another way to hit Hezbollah terrorists with a device that was always close to them.”
“At the time the beeper operation was activated, 10 times more beepers were detonated than we had at the beginning of the war, and twice as many radios were detonated,” Barnea explained.
"Activating both operations (the beepers and the radios) at the beginning of the war would not have led to the powerful achievement that we achieved at the time of its activation."
Barnea claimed that "the operation symbolizes the turning point in the war in the north and the starting point for the ten days during which the tide turned against our enemies. A clear line can be drawn in the war in the north - from the beepers to the elimination of Nasrallah to the ceasefire."
After the pagers and walkie-talkies exploded, Israel launched a massive bombing campaign in Lebanon that killed several thousand Lebanese, including Hezbollah fighters and civilians, while displacing over a million Lebanese from their homes in the country's south.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated shortly thereafter, on September 27, 2024, when the Israeli Air Force dropped over 80 tons of bombs on a compound in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
"Hezbollah suffered a very severe blow that broke the organization's morale. Victory in the war is not measured by the number of deaths or missiles but by victory over the morale and motivation of the enemy," Barnea claimed.