How did the pagers and hand held radios explode in Lebanon
In a major security breach, thousands of pagers and walkie-talkie radios used by Hezbollah members exploded simultaneously across Lebanon on Tuesday 17th September 2024 and Wednesday 18th September 2024, resulting in the deaths of at least 26 people and injuring thousands more. In this post we will take a look at the pagers and walkie talkies used in this attack.
Rugged Pager AR-924 – Pager’s – (Tuesday 17th September 2024)
To start with many people are asking why are pagers been used as they are technically old technology, the answer is simple. Hezbollah members prefer using pagers over phones due to concerns that Israel could track and monitor them through mobile devices, which is a logical reason. To maximize the impact, Mossad allegedly sent a message alert to the pagers less than a minute before issuing the “explode” command, ensuring that as many Hezbollah commanders as possible would be looking at their pagers at the critical moment.
According to a Hezbollah operative speaking to AP, the pagers that exploded on Tuesday were from a new brand the group had not previously used. A Lebanese security official informed Reuters that approximately 5,000 of these Rugged Pager AR-924 pagers were imported into the country around five months ago. These pagers are manufactured by a Taiwanese manufacturer called Gold Apollo.
The founder, Hsu Ching-Kuang, stated that his company had entered into an agreement with a Hungarian-based firm, BAC, to produce the devices under his company’s name. BAC’s CEO, Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono, told NBC she was unaware of the explosions, saying, “I don’t manufacture the pagers. I’m just the intermediary. I believe there’s been a misunderstanding.” The Hungarian government clarified that the company had “no manufacturing or operational site” within the country.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs announced on Wednesday that Gold Apollo had exported 260,000 pagers between 2022 and August 2024, mainly to European and American markets. In a statement, the ministry noted that there had been no reported incidents of explosions involving these products, and there were no records indicating the company had directly exported pagers to Lebanon.
Some experts speculate that the radio system used by the pagers may have been hacked, possibly through altered code. This could have caused the pagers’ batteries to overheat, triggering a thermal runaway process that led to the explosions.
Other analysts, such as Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former British army officer and chemical weapons expert, suggest the pagers might have been tampered with during the supply chain, potentially being wired to detonate remotely. Pagers like the mobile phone network have good coverage and can be used almost anywhere and still obtain a signal.
However, Brussels-based military and political analyst Elijah Magnier told Al Jazeera that his sources in Lebanon, citing initial Hezbollah investigations of pagers that didn’t explode, indicate that Israel may have placed 1 to 3 grams (0.04 to 0.11 oz) of pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), a powerful explosive, inside each device.
The question remains how could thousands of pagers which were widely dispersed across Lebanon and nearby countries, be detonated simultaneously by a single coded signal.
Icom IC-V82 – Hand held radio’s – (Wednesday 18th September 2024)
Just one day after the pagers exploded we got reports that hand held radios had exploded also. Icom the Japanese company which makes the walkie-talkies that exploded said it stopped producing that specific model (IC-V82) around 10 years ago. The manufacturing of the batteries has also stopped, it says.
The Icom IC-V82 and similar models could be known by different names, depending on its use and where you are located. Some may call it a walkie-talkie or hand held radio, others may say its a ham radio or transceiver, essentially all are correct ways to describe this radio.
The thing to remember about the Icom IC-V82 is the signal range is very short. They have a maximum power output of around 7 watts and in built up areas coverage can range from 10 to 20 miles maximum, the same applies for receive signal. So IF for example they were somehow rigged to explode when they received a specific signal the range would be very limited and the sender of the signal would have to be close by or using a high power transmitter some distance away.
It is also interesting to note that Icom said the radio used in the explosion was not carrying an anti-counterfeit hologram sticker that all Icom devices should be carrying, so the radios used maybe counterfeit models.
At this point it is still unclear at which point in the supply chain these devices were compromised and how.
We will update this page once we obtain any new confirmed news regarding the pager and walkie talkie attacks.
Image shows the pagers and radios used in this attack.
Duncan is a technology professional with over 20 years experience of working in various IT roles. He has a interest in cyber security, and has a wide range of other skills in radio, electronics and telecommunications.