After hundreds of pagers exploded nearly simultaneously across Lebanon on Tuesday, killing many and injuring thousands, CNN has learned that the blasts were the result of a coordinated operation between Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, and the Israeli military.
Approximately 24 hours later, walkie-talkies triggered a new round of explosions on Wednesday throughout Lebanon, according to a security source speaking to CNN.
These suspected attacks targeting the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group are part of a series of covert operations that Israel’s government has not officially acknowledged but are believed to involve Israeli operatives.
Israel’s alleged history of embedding explosives in telecommunication devices dates back to 1972, as part of its response to the killing of 11 Israelis, including athletes, during the Munich Olympics, an attack carried out by the Palestinian militant group Black September.
In retaliation, Israel launched “Operation Wrath of God,” a campaign to hunt down those responsible for the Munich Massacre.
Mahmoud Hamshari, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) representative in Paris, was among the targets. Unidentified operatives, reportedly linked to Israeli intelligence, entered his home and planted a bomb in his phone. Later, a person posing as an Italian journalist set up a phone interview with Hamshari. When he answered and confirmed his identity, the bomb was remotely detonated.
The attacks on Tuesday echoed the 1996 assassination of Yahya Ayyash, Hamas’ chief bombmaker, known as “the engineer,” responsible for the deaths of many Israelis. Ayyash was killed in Gaza when his cell phone, rigged with 50 grams of explosives, exploded near his head. His death triggered four retaliatory suicide bombings that killed dozens of Israelis.
Since 2010, five Iranian nuclear scientists have been assassinated in attacks linked to foreign actors, as Israel seeks to block its most formidable adversary from developing nuclear weapons. In August 2015, during the height of these killings, then-Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon hinted at Israel’s involvement, telling Der Spiegel that he couldn’t be held responsible “for the life expectancy of Iranian scientists.”
Experts believe both Israel and the United States were behind the deployment of the Stuxnet virus, which disrupted Iran’s nuclear program in 2010 by damaging centrifuges at facilities like Natanz and Bushehr. Iranian officials suspect the cyberattack originated from Israel and the U.S., though neither country has officially acknowledged it. Stuxnet was notable for being one of the first cyberattacks to cause physical damage, as the virus made the centrifuges spin out of control unnoticed. The recent pager attack is seen as another instance where a cyberattack resulted in a physical impact, beyond typical cybercrimes like stealing money or disabling websites.
In 2020, Iran’s top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was assassinated near Tehran by a remote-controlled machine gun mounted on a Nissan. Iranian officials claimed the weapon utilized artificial intelligence and facial recognition to target Fakhrizadeh before the vehicle, reportedly filled with explosives, self-destructed.
Top Iranian authorities blamed Israel for the assassination, though Israel did not comment.
Chimmy Liya