Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly, presenting a pager to the audience as a symbol of ongoing conflicts faced by Tel Aviv. He emphasized that Israel has been engaged in wars on multiple fronts for years. During his speech, Netanyahu rejected accusations of genocide in Gaza, labeling them as ‘the biggest lie of the century.’
Many lost their ears, eyesight, and fingers, and several suffered much more severe wounds. In November the same year, Netanyahu confirmed that he had given a green signal to the operation. Well, I can tell you this, Hezbollah certainly remembers them . Hezbollah blamed Israel for the attack, and the latter neither accepted nor denied it for weeks. It was this reference that the Israeli PM gave at the UNGA. As the days passed, the details about the deadly plan began to surface. Hamas got support from Hezbollah, and Israel had to take care of another front at the Lebanese border while the war with Hamas raged along the Gaza Strip. It instead triggered the devices, and the explosions reportedly continued for around an hour. Read More: From Pagers To Walkie-Talkies: Russians Seek Offline Ways To Communicate Amid Internet Blackout
Coincidentally, the reference came almost exactly two years after the thousands of pager and walkie-talkie explosions left Hezbollah shocked, killing 40 and injuring more than 3000 others. On September 17 and 18, 2024, thousands of pagers and hundreds of hand held walkie-talkies exploded in multiple locations across Lebanon, paralysing Hezbollah operations as many reported severe injuries. More than 3,000 members of the Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon were seriously wounded. Israel had begun its operation against Hamas in October 2023 after the group targeted Tel Aviv in a surprise attack and abducted over 1,000 persons. The first round of blasts took place on September 17, when the small messaging devices beeped.
“Do you know of any other country the size of New Jersey that can fight for three years on seven fronts?” he asked. Brandishing the device like those that Israeli intelligence reportedly engineered with explosives before having them shipped to operatives of the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, Netanyahu said, ” You remember the beepers? Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showing a pager during his speech at UN General Assembly Photo Credit: AFP Two of the then-retired senior Mossad agents, who were among the key members behind the secret operation, later told CBS News that the work on weaponising the walkie-talkies began over a decade before Israel used them. “The walkie-talkie was a weapon, just like a bullet or a missile or a mortar,” the agent had told CBS News. Witnesses saw smoke coming out of people’s pockets before the explosions began, according to a BBC report.
Israel’s spy intelligence agency, Mossad, planted explosives inside pagers that were ordered by Hezbollah months before the blasts. A New York Times report, citing US officials, stated that messages the pagers received before the detonation appeared to have come from Hezbollah’s leadership.
A large number of people flocked to the emergency departments of Lebanese hospitals as confusion and chaos continued to spread. Before things could have settled, hundreds of walkie talkies and small phones purchased by Hezbollah months back exploded the next day. It is known that Hezbollah does a thorough check before purchasing products, and Mossad prepared a complete backstory of the new product. They also created fake online stores, pages, and posts to bypass Hezbollah’s scrutiny. Nothing was detected, Reuters added, citing two people known to the matter. The pagers, small in size and with batteries inside them, concealed a small but strong plastic explosive, something that was not traceable through X-ray as well. The pagers had inside them a thin, square sheet with six grams of white pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) plastic explosive, which was fitted between two rectangular battery cells, a Reuters report then mentioned, citing a Lebanese source and photos. And now, brandishing a similar device at UNGA, Netanyahu has made it clear his intent to continue war against Hamas, Hezbollah, or Iran is concerned.
A Reuters report mentioned that when the militant group received the devices in February 2024, they checked them for explosives by passing them through airport security.
Twenty people died and several others were injured, the Lebanese Health Ministry then said.
The devices were weaponised long before the attack took place, with Mossad spearheading both detonation plans — pagers and walkie-talkies. For months, the Hezbollah members used it before the devices exploded like fireworks after a beep.
