Hungary-based pagers manufacturing company BAC Consulting, which manufactured the pagers that exploded across Lebanon on Tuesday, was an Israeli shell company, the New York Times reported on Thursday, citing three intelligence officers.
The three officers further said that an additional two shell companies were created, which, the NYT noted, assisted in hiding the identities of those involved in manufacturing the pagers.
The report explained that while the company did produce regular pagers for other clients, those manufactured for Hezbollah were “produced separately, they contained batteries laced with explosive.”
According to the report, the pagers were first sent to Lebanon in 2022 in a small batch.
Following a speech made by Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, where he denounced the use of cellphones - calling them Israel’s “agent” - and promoted more comprehensive use of pagers, more orders for BAC manufactured pagers were reportedly placed by operatives of the Lebanese terrorist organization.
Nasrallah bans use of cell phones
Moreover, according to three defense officials, Nasrallah also ordered Hezbollah officers to carry pagers at all times and banned cell phones from organization meetings. He also reportedly ordered officers to refrain from communicating any details concerning Hezbollah’s movements and plans through cell phones.
Since his speech, there was a significant increase in shipments of pagers to Lebanon, with thousands reportedly arriving and being distributed to Hezbollah officers and their allies, the New York Times cited two American intelligence officials.
While Hezbollah views these devices as a defensive tool, the NYT noted, Israeli intelligence has characterized them as “buttons” that could be activated at strategic moments, which appears to have been on Tuesday. According to multiple reports, the pagers were set to beep, prompting their owners to see what message Hezbollah’s command sent, only to explode a few seconds later, sowing chaos across Lebanon.
Hezbollah reported that at least eight of its fighters were killed, with more noncombatants also being killed and wounded.