Terrorist Organization's Senior Official Developed Assassination Technique
First Large-Scale Explosion Causing Thousands of Casualties
US Authorities: "Israel Prepared for at Least 15 Years"
Thousands of casualties occurred after a pager used by members of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah exploded, raising suspicions that Israeli intelligence agencies were behind the explosion. Israeli authorities are known to have conducted operations since the 1970s involving planting bombs in communication devices to eliminate high-ranking enemy officials. U.S. intelligence agencies also believe that Israel has been preparing this explosive attack for at least 15 years.
Developed for Retaliation After the Munich Olympics Massacre
According to Al Jazeera, a Middle Eastern media outlet, on the 22nd (local time), there are suspicions that the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad is behind the pager explosion incident. It reported that Mossad has developed technology since the 1970s to plant small bombs in wired and wireless phones, pagers, and radios to eliminate targets.
Al Jazeera explained, "After the Israeli team participating in the 1972 Munich Olympics was killed by the Palestinian armed group 'Black September,' Mossad launched operations to plant bombs in telephones and pagers to eliminate enemy agents as retaliation. This type of bomb is called a 'Pager bomb.' The 'PETN (Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate)' bomb mainly used in these operations can produce a powerful explosion even in small quantities."
Although the pager bomb that caused the explosion incident is a technology over 50 years old, this is the first large-scale simultaneous attack of its kind. According to CNN, the Lebanese Ministry of Health officially announced on the 17th that 9 people died and 2,750 were injured due to the pager explosion incident. The death toll later rose to 37, and about 200 of the injured remain in critical condition, so the number of deaths is expected to continue increasing.
U.S. Intelligence: "Israel Planned for at Least 15 Years"
U.S. intelligence agencies believe that Israel has prepared for at least 15 years to cause mass casualties using pager bombs, which were previously only used for assassinating a few high-ranking officials or agents. Analysts suggest that Israel gradually infiltrated Hezbollah’s radio and pager supply chains, enabling explosives to be installed in thousands of pagers.
U.S. ABC News, citing U.S. intelligence sources, reported, "Israel has been directly involved in the production of Hezbollah’s pagers that exploded across Lebanon and appears to have planned supply chain disruption operations for at least 15 years. Israel operated several shell companies and even ran companies that manufactured pagers to carry out the operation."
The New York Times (NYT), citing current and former U.S. defense and intelligence officials, reported that Israel established shell companies in Hungary for disguise and directly manufactured pagers to sell to Hezbollah. It is analyzed that about 5,000 pagers were ordered and explosives were pre-installed during the production process. There is also speculation that Israel may have intervened in the distribution process of finished products already manufactured in factories to install explosives.
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