{"id":117955,"date":"2024-12-23T17:05:06","date_gmt":"2024-12-23T15:05:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=117955"},"modified":"2024-12-23T15:36:25","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T13:36:25","slug":"27-05-104","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=117955","title":{"rendered":"Inside Mossad\u2019s decade-long deception: The pager mission that crippled Hezbollah"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5 style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jns.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"center alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.reunion68.com\/Biuletyn\/img\/jns-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"35%\" \/><\/a><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #000080;\"><strong><a style=\"color: #000080; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jns.org\/inside-mossads-decade-long-deception-the-pager-mission-that-crippled-hezbollah\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Inside Mossad\u2019s decade-long deception: The pager mission that crippled Hezbollah<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Erez Linn<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"height: 15px; background: #d0e6fa; width: 100%;\" \/>\n<div>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>&#8220;They&#8217;ll have to keep on trying to guess what the next thing is,&#8221; an agent told the CBS flagship program &#8220;60 Minutes.&#8221;<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.jns.org\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2172015705-1320x880.jpg\" width=\"100%\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>A man holds an Icom walkie talkie device after he removed the battery during the funeral of persons killed when hundreds of paging devices exploded in a deadly wave across Lebanon the previous day, in Beirut&#8217;s southern suburbs on Sept. 18, 2024. Photo by Anwar Amro\/AFP via Getty Images.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">In an extraordinary\u00a0\u201c60 Minutes\u201d<em>\u00a0<\/em>broadcast on Sunday, former Mossad agents pulled back the curtain on one of Israel\u2019s most sophisticated\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jns.org\/mossads-pager-bombs-details-emerge-on-act-of-master-spycraft\/\">covert operations<\/a>, targeting Lebanon\u2019s Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist organization.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">According to the\u00a0<em>CBS News<\/em>\u00a0report, the intelligence agency spent a decade infiltrating Hezbollah\u2019s supply chain with\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jns.org\/netanyahu-confirms-israel-behind-hezbollah-pager-blasts\/\">weaponized<\/a>\u00a0communication devices that ultimately helped turn the tide of war in Lebanon. In a devastating moment for the organization\u2019s leadership, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah was reportedly forced to witness the deaths of his own security detail inside his bunker as their compromised communication devices detonated.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"content\" class=\"content-alignment\">\n<div id=\"watch-description\" class=\"yt-uix-button-panel\">\n<div id=\"watch-description-text\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"How Israel's Mossad tricked Hezbollah into buying explosive pagers | 60 Minutes\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FLUUUZWjfGk\" width=\"680\" height=\"400\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Speaking through masks and using pseudonyms, two retired senior agents described to\u00a0<em>CBS<\/em>\u00a0correspondent Lesley Stahl how they transformed walkie-talkies and pagers into precision weapons.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cA walkie-talkie was a weapon just like a bullet or a missile or a mortar,\u201d explained the agent identified as Michael, describing the operation\u2019s first phase. When Stahl pressed for details about the device\u2019s construction, Michael revealed that \u201cinside the battery, there is an explosive device,\u201d which was \u201cmade in Israel\u201d at a Mossad facility.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">.<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.jns.org\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2172144042-1-1320x880.jpg\" width=\"100%\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>Lebanese Hezbollah members carry the coffin of their comrade Hussein Amhaz during his funeral in Baalbek, in Lebanon\u2019s Bekaa valley, on Sept. 19, 2024. Hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah exploded across Lebanon in unprecedented attacks that spanned two days, killing 32 people and wounding more than 3,000 others. Photo by AFP via Getty Images.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The ingenuity of the operation lay not just in the technical execution but in the elaborate deception campaign that accompanied it. Through a network of shell companies and fake business entities, Mossad managed to sell more than 16,000 explosive-laden devices to Hezbollah over several years,\u00a0\u201c60 Minutes\u201d\u00a0reported..<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">By 2022, emboldened by the success of the walkie-talkie operation, Mossad expanded its strategy to include pagers. However, the transition wasn\u2019t smooth. \u201cI remember the day that I came to our director, put it on the table. And he was furious,\u201d recalled the second agent, identified as Gabriel. \u201cHe was telling us, \u2018There is no chance that anyone will buy such a big device. It\u2019s not comfortable in their pocket. It\u2019s heavy.&#8217;\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Despite initial skepticism, Gabriel spent two weeks convincing Mossad leadership that the pager\u2019s apparent drawbacks could be turned into selling points. The agency launched a sophisticated marketing campaign, creating fake YouTube advertisements that promoted the devices as premium products.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cWe make advertising movies and brochures, and we put it on internet. And it became the best product in the pager area in the world,\u201d Gabriel told Stahl. The marketing was so effective that Mossad had to field purchase requests from legitimate customers, which they deflected by quoting exorbitant prices.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The operation\u2019s success hinged on maintaining an impenetrable facade of legitimacy. Mossad established a partnership with Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese pager manufacturer, through front companies. \u201cWhen they are buying from us, they have zero clue that they are buying from the Mossad,\u201d Gabriel explained. \u201cWe make like \u2018Truman Show,\u2019 everything is controlled by us behind the scenes. In their experience, everything is normal. Everything was 100% kosher, including businessmen, marketing, engineers, showroom, everything.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-482380 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.jns.org\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2172794461-1320x880.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"100%\" \/><em style=\"color: #808080; text-align: center;\">NEW TAIPEI CITY, TAIWAN \u2013 SEPTEMBER 18: A person tries to exit the office of Gold Apollo on September 18, 2024 in New Taipei City, Taiwan. Pager bombings across the Middle East have sparked new widespread worries about spiralling violence in the region, with Hezbollah pinning the blame on Israel. Reports in American media said that the pagers had been tampered with after they were ordered by Hezbollah from the Taiwanese firm Gold Apollo, a maker of pagers and other similar equipment. (Photo by Annabelle Chih\/Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The technical sophistication of the operation extended to the devices\u2019 design. Each pager underwent extensive testing to ensure precise effects. \u201cWe test everything, triple, double, multiple times in order to make sure there is minimum damage,\u201d said Gabriel. The agency even conducted research on average response times to pager alerts\u2014approximately seven seconds\u2014and engineered specific ringtones to maximize user engagement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">When Stahl inquired about the detonation mechanism, Gabriel revealed that users received messages claiming to contain encrypted information that required pressing two buttons to access. However, as Gabriel explained, \u201cIt\u2019s the same effect. It\u2019s gonna explode anyway.\u201d The final detonation signals were triggered from Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">On\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jns.org\/israel-said-to-have-initiated-hezbollah-pager-attack-prematurely\/\">Sept. 17<\/a>, at precisely 3:30 p.m., thousands of pagers began beeping across Lebanon. The following day, the decade-old walkie-talkies were activated, some detonating at funerals for victims of the pager attacks. The precision of the devices was evident in videos reviewed by\u00a0\u201c60 Minutes,\u201d showing explosions that wounded pager carriers while leaving nearby individuals unharmed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cA day after the pagers exploded, people were afraid to turn on the air conditioners in Lebanon because they were afraid that they would explode,\u201d Michael told Stahl, describing the psychological impact of the operation. \u201cSo there was real fear.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-482388 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.jns.org\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2172013418-1320x880.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"100%\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>A Lebanese soldier gestures at the scene of a reported pager device explosion in Saida in southern Lebanon on Sept. 18, 2024. A second wave of device explosions killed three people in Hezbollah strongholds of Lebanon on Sept. 18, raising fears of an all-out war between Israel and the Iran-backed militants. Photo by Mahmoud Zayyat\/AFP via Getty Images.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The aftermath of the attacks demonstrated their strategic effectiveness. According to Gabriel, the operation wasn\u2019t primarily about inflicting casualties. \u201cIf he\u2019s just dead, so he\u2019s dead,\u201d he explained. \u201cBut if he [is] wounded, you have to take him to the hospital, take care of him. You need to invest money and effort. And those people without hands and eyes are living proof, walking in Lebanon, of \u2018don\u2019t mess with us.&#8217;\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The combined attacks resulted in approximately 30 fatalities, including two children, and wounded around 3,000 people. In the aftermath, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivered what former agents described as an uncharacteristically subdued speech, before being killed in an Israeli airstrike on his bunker on Sept. 27. A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect at the end of November.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>Originally published by<strong> Israel Hayom<\/strong>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"height: 15px; background: #d0e6fa; width: 100%;\" \/>\n<div id=\"content\" class=\"content-alignment\">\n<div id=\"watch-description\" class=\"yt-uix-button-panel\">\n<div id=\"watch-description-text\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p><em>Zawarto\u015b\u0107 publikowanych artyku\u0142\u00f3w i materia\u0142\u00f3w nie reprezentuje pogl\u0105d\u00f3w ani opinii Reunion&#8217;68,<\/em><em><br \/>\nani te\u017c webmastera Blogu Reunion&#8217;68, chyba ze jest to wyra\u017anie zaznaczone.<br \/>\nTwoje uwagi, linki, w\u0142asne artyku\u0142y lub wiadomo\u015bci prze\u015blij na adres:<br \/>\n<\/em><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong><em><a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"mailto:webmaster@reunion68.com\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">webmaster@reunion68.com<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr style=\"width: 100%;\" \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Inside Mossad\u2019s decade-long deception: The pager mission that crippled Hezbollah Erez Linn &#8220;They&#8217;ll have to keep on trying to guess what the next thing is,&#8221; an agent told the CBS flagship program &#8220;60 Minutes.&#8221; A man holds an Icom walkie talkie device after he removed the battery during the funeral of persons killed when hundreds [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117955"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=117955"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":117971,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117955\/revisions\/117971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=117955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=117955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=117955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}