PDB Afternoon Bulletin | December 23rd, 2024: Mossad Agents Expose Beeper Bomb Operation & Syria's New Rulers Seek End To Sectarian Violence
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What happened in Israel's covert operation against Hezbollah?
I want to begin by taking you back to Israel's covert attack on Hezbollah back in September of this year, as Mossad agents reveal new details about how they managed to trick the terror group into buying explosive-laced talkies and pagers. The surprise attack, which saw thousands of electronic devices simultaneously explode in the hands and pockets of Hezbollah fighters, marked the beginning of the end for the group's ambitions to wage a long term war with Israel. The attack killed two dozen Hezbollah fighters and took another 1500 of them out of commission while leaving its leaders severely rattled. And just ten days later, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah would be killed. Speaking anonymously to 60 Minutes on Sunday, two recently retired Mossad agents said the operation began in earnest some 10 years ago when Hezbollah was looking to purchase a large quantity of communication devices for their fighters.
Mossad agents created a shell company through which they sold the group walkie-talkies laced with the hidden explosives. The scheme worked. with Hezbollah reportedly none the wiser that they had purchased these devices from their arch enemy. And as it turns out, Israel was playing the long game. Fast forward to 2022, Mossad saw another operational opportunity. They learned that Hezbollah had been buying pagers from a Taiwan-based company called Gold Apollo, apparently eager to pivot from smartphones to low-tech alternatives out of fear that Israel was exploiting their devices. Israel quickly moved to insert themselves as the supplier. They established a shell company called BAC Consulting based in Budapest, Hungary, to pose as a legitimate international third-party supplier of the pagers, tricking Gold Apollo into doing business with them. They then began manufacturing pagers laced with an explosive material that could be triggered remotely.
How did Mossad agents trick Hezbollah into buying explosive devices?
To cover their tracks, Mossad also established at least two other shell companies and even took contracts with regular clients who they provided with normal pagers. One of the agents told 60 Minutes, quote, We created a pretend world. We're a global production company. We write the screenplay. We're the directors. We're the producers. We're the main actors. And the world is our stage. That's a very flowery way to explain an operation. The retired agents said the pagers intended for Hezbollah had to be made slightly larger to accommodate the explosives hidden inside. They were then tested multiple times on dummies to determine the right amount of explosive material that would be needed to injure the carrier but not anyone in close proximity.
They also studied and tested what ringtones the pagers would use, seeking something that sounded urgent enough to prompt the fighter to take the pager out of their pocket when it was triggered. Once the devices were ready to go, Mossad began working to lure Hezbollah leaders into making a purchase. The agents said it took roughly two weeks to convince Hezbollah to buy these slightly bulkier pagers. They employed false advertisements for the devices on YouTube that marketed the pagers as dustproof, waterproof, and providing a much longer battery life. To further dupe Hezbollah, they posed as businessmen, engineers, and marketing experts. The entire ruse worked, and soon the pagers began shipping directly to Hezbollah. Now, the first shipments arrived in Lebanon in the summer of 2022, but Israel reportedly increased production after Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah ordered his fighters to ditch their cell phones entirely last February. The shipments subsequently increased, with thousands of pagers arriving over the summer.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What happened in Israel's covert operation against Hezbollah?
0:58–2:54
2
How did Mossad agents trick Hezbollah into buying explosive devices?
2:54–8:40
3
What were the consequences of the explosive-laced devices on Hezbollah?
8:40–11:05
4
What is Syria's new leader promising for ethnic and religious minorities?
11:05–11:52
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from The President's Daily Brief
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