Israel’s Mossad crippled Hezbollah by remotely detonating thousands of booby-trapped pagers distributed among the terrorist group’s operatives in Lebanon and Syria. The September 17 attack, which has been described as one of the most ingenious acts of espionage in modern history, left as many as 3,000 Hezbollah members dead or maimed and dealt a severe blow to the group’s command structure.

Now, a Washington Post exclusive brings readers behind the scenes to describe how it all played out.  This covert operation, two years in the making, was part of a meticulously planned effort by Mossad to infiltrate and neutralize Hezbollah, and revolved around the sale of a new line of Apollo-branded AR924 pagers, which Hezbollah believed to be untraceable and perfectly suited for battlefield communications.

The Origins of the Plot

The idea for the operation emerged in 2022, during a period of relative calm along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. Hezbollah, with its vast arsenal of precision-guided missiles and reputation for evading Israeli intelligence, posed an ongoing threat. Israeli officials had grown increasingly alarmed as the group continued to amass weapons capable of striking deep into Israeli territory.

Hezbollah had long been paranoid about Israeli surveillance, aware that Mossad had infiltrated its ranks with human informants and electronic monitoring devices. The group’s leaders were particularly wary of communication vulnerabilities, fearing that ordinary cell phones could be used by Israeli intelligence to eavesdrop or track their movements. In response, Hezbollah sought hack-proof communication devices that could withstand the scrutiny of Israel’s high-tech intelligence apparatus.

This demand opened the door for Mossad to craft an elaborate deception. The agency developed a strategy to lure Hezbollah into purchasing seemingly secure devices—pagers and walkie-talkies—that were, in reality, booby-trapped with hidden explosives.

The first part of the plan involved rigging walkie-talkies with oversized batteries that concealed explosives, allowing Mossad to eavesdrop on Hezbollah communications for nearly a decade. The walkie-talkies, distributed as early as 2015, gave Israel full access to Hezbollah’s communication network while lying dormant as potential bombs, ready to be detonated at a moment’s notice.

But in 2022, a new opportunity arose, leading Mossad to focus on a more innovative device: the Apollo AR924 pager.

The Sale of the Booby-Trapped Pagers

Hezbollah had no reason to suspect foul play when, in 2023, it began receiving solicitations to purchase Apollo-branded AR924 pagers. These pagers, slightly bulky but known for their durability, were designed for use in rugged conditions, making them ideal for Hezbollah’s decentralized network of fighters. One of their key selling points was an oversized battery capable of lasting months without needing to be charged—a crucial feature for operatives in remote areas.

The sales pitch came from a trusted source: a marketing official with links to the Apollo brand. This individual, a former Middle East sales representative for the Taiwanese company that manufactured the pagers, had no knowledge of Mossad’s involvement. She established her own company, obtained a license to sell Apollo products, and unknowingly facilitated the sale to Hezbollah. According to Israeli officials familiar with the operation, she convinced Hezbollah leaders that the AR924 pager was perfect for their needs.

“She was the one in touch with Hezbollah and explained to them why the bigger pager with the larger battery was better than the original model,” said an Israeli official.

What Hezbollah didn’t know was that these pagers were assembled in Israel under Mossad’s oversight. The devices contained a hidden explosive component in their battery packs, which was virtually undetectable even if disassembled or X-rayed. Mossad also engineered the pagers to allow for remote detonation via a signal, ensuring that thousands of the devices could be triggered simultaneously.

One particularly sinister feature of the AR924 pagers was a two-step de-encryption procedure required to access secure messages. Users needed to press two buttons simultaneously to unlock encrypted messages, ensuring that both hands were on the device when it exploded.

In February 2024, Hezbollah distributed the pagers to around 5,000 of its operatives, including mid-level fighters and support personnel. They had no idea that they were holding Israeli-engineered bombs.

The Triggering of the Devices

By the time Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his intelligence advisers gathered on September 12 to discuss action against Hezbollah, thousands of pagers had already been placed into the hands of Hezbollah operatives. Mossad officials briefed Netanyahu on the secret operation, explaining how the booby-trapped pagers could wreak havoc on Hezbollah’s leadership.

Despite the potential risks of retaliation, Netanyahu approved the operation, recognizing that it could significantly weaken Hezbollah at a time when Israel was engaged in heavy fighting against Hamas in Gaza.

On September 17, thousands of Hezbollah fighters received a notification on their pagers: “You received an encrypted message.” As the operatives followed instructions to decrypt the message, pressing two buttons, the pagers detonated. In an instant, explosions ripped through homes, vehicles, and streets across Lebanon and Syria, blowing off hands and maiming or killing anyone holding the devices.

Israeli officials later confirmed that in many cases, the blast severed both of the users’ hands, rendering them unable to fight or operate weapons. “You had to push two buttons to read the message,” an Israeli official said, explaining the gruesome effect.

Mossad’s remote detonation of thousands of additional pagers shortly after the initial blasts caused even more destruction. The following day, hundreds of booby-trapped walkie-talkies, distributed years earlier, were detonated in a similar manner, killing or injuring more Hezbollah personnel.

The Fallout: Hezbollah in Disarray

The effects of the operation were immediate and devastating. Hezbollah’s leadership was thrown into disarray, with key mid-level operatives and support personnel either dead or incapacitated. As Hezbollah struggled to respond, Israel launched a series of airstrikes on the group’s headquarters, logistics centers, and weapons depots in Lebanon, further crippling the organization.

The largest of these strikes occurred on September 27, targeting a command center buried deep beneath Beirut. This attack was personally authorized by Netanyahu as he traveled to New York for a speech at the United Nations. During the speech, he declared, “We will not accept a terror army perched on our northern border, able to perpetrate another Oct. 7-style massacre,” referencing Hezbollah’s potential threat to Israeli citizens.

Just a day later, Hezbollah confirmed what had already become apparent to much of the world: Hasan Nasrallah, the group’s leader and Israel’s longtime nemesis, had been killed in the attack.

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