Israel smuggled pagers into Lebanon prior to 7 October attack, says Mossad chief 

Israeli intelligence agents smuggled 500 pagers into Lebanon for the purpose of sabotaging the Hezbollah movement even before the Hamas cross-border incursion on 7 October 2023, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency has revealed.

On 17 September last year, thousands of pager devices exploded simultaneously across Lebanon, targeting alleged Hezbollah fighters and members who used them as a form of low-tech communication. The next day, thousands of walkie-talkies also exploded throughout the country.

The incidents marked an extensive Israeli intelligence operation that killed at least 51 people and wounded thousands more, including civilians. Many at the time believed that Israel had been working on the operation for months, but as more information came out, it was revealed to be a years-long effort of setting up shell companies, hacking into devices’ hardware, and arranging shipments to Lebanon, all with the aim of infiltrating Hezbollah and sabotaging the group’s members at a time of Tel Aviv’s choosing.

The long-term implementation of that plan was confirmed further by the chief of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, David Barnea, who reportedly revealed at an event for the Israeli Institute for National Strategic Studies on Tuesday that his agents managed to deliver a first shipment of 500 pager devices in Lebanon prior to Palestinian resistance group Hamas’s attack into Israeli-held territory on 7 October 2023.

“The operation reflects intelligence penetration and a deep understanding of the enemy, technological superiority, and top-level operational capabilities”, said Barnea. “Activating both operations at the start of the war would not have achieved the powerful battlefield impact we reached at the time of its execution.”

The walkie-talkie operation was reportedly devised around a decade ago, while the idea for the pagers was conceived after Israeli intelligence realised Hezbollah operatives used other forms of communications technology.

“By the time the pager operation was ultimately carried out, ten times more pagers were detonated than were available at the beginning of the war, and twice as many walkie talkies were detonated,” confirmed Barnea.

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