After the mass pager blasts in Lebanon, there are increasing indications that Israel's Mossad foreign intelligence service was behind the operation. Here's what experts say and what the media write.
In the wake of the mass pager bombings in Lebanon, there are increasing indications that Israel's Mossad foreign intelligence service was behind the operation. The secret services managed to intercept a delivery of pagers and put several grams of explosives in the devices, reports the "New York Times", quoted by the German public broadcaster ARD. According to the "Wall Street Journal" radios have reached Hezbollah in a shipment received in recent days.
The New York Times" states that Hezbollah ordered the pagers from the Taiwanese manufacturer "Gold Apollo". The news agency "Reuters" also quoted a senior Lebanese security official as saying that a small amount of explosives had been hidden in 5,000 Gold Apollo pagers during production. "Mossad planted a circuit board with explosives and a code in the device. "It is very difficult to detect this in any way, even with devices or scanners," the source said. Others speak of only 1,000 tampered devices.
The explosions in Lebanon yesterday killed at least nine people and injured nearly 3,000, including scores of Hezbollah fighters. The Iranian ambassador in Beirut was also wounded, ARD recalls. Pager explosions also occurred in Syria, where Hezbollah and other militias close to Iran operate.
Who made the pagers?
Photographs of the destroyed pagers analyzed by "Reuters" show designs and stickers on the back that match pagers produced by "Gold Apollo". However, Su Chin-Kuang, the company's founder, has denied allegations that his company manufactured the pagers used in the blasts. "The product is not ours. It's just got our brand on it," he says.
"Gold Apollo" stated to the news agency DPA that the Hungarian-based company "BAC Consulting KFT" designed and manufactured the radios. "Under an agreement, we allow BAC to use our trademark to sell products in certain regions, but the design and manufacturing will be done entirely by BAC," the Taiwanese company said. The AR-924 model mentioned by the media was also produced and sold by BAC, writes ARD.
Is Israel behind the operation?
Hezbollah fighters use pagers as a simple means of communication to avoid being tracked by Israel via smartphones. According to the American information portal "Axios" the explosions also paralyzed a significant part of Hezbollah's military command and control system, and the Iranian-backed militia announced retaliatory strikes against Israel. The Israeli military has not yet commented on the incidents.
Security expert Nico Lange believes it is possible that the Israeli secret services were behind the pager attack. To WDR, the senior scientist at the Munich Security Conference assessed the alleged operation as extremely complex: "You have to look at the challenge faced by those who are fighting against Hezbollah and other groups that are attacking Israel with the support of Iran. These are terrorists: they hide among the civilian population. Every time you try to catch them, you expose yourself to the argument that you are endangering the civilian population. So it's a very difficult task," explains Lange. "If you find a tool like this and the operation is successful, then you have found a way to neutralize the terrorists with as little collateral damage as possible."
What's next?
A statement by the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon said the pager blasts represented an "extremely disturbing escalation in an already unacceptably volatile situation". Civilians are not targeted and must be protected at all times, the statement added.
As in previous months, Hezbollah will consider whether it can react at all, expert Guido Steinberg explains to ZDF. The militia has major problems with "finding appropriate ways to respond". They will try to "harm Israel militarily", but on the other hand they will continue to try to avoid a major war. Hezbollah is in an "uncomfortable situation", according to the security expert.
And according to former CIA analyst Michael P. DiMino, the pager attack was a "Mossad operation" aimed at wreaking havoc among Hezbollah members. He told German public broadcaster ZDF that it may be an attempt to weaken or even partially destroy Hezbollah before an Israeli ground attack in southern Lebanon.