Israel’s Mossad crippled Hezbollah by remotely detonating thousands of booby-trapped pagers distributed among the terrorist group’s operatives in Lebanon and Syria. The September 17 attack, which has been described as one of the most ingenious acts of espionage in modern history, left as many as 3,000 Hezbollah members dead or maimed and dealt a severe blow to the group’s command structure. Now, a Washington Post exclusive brings readers behind the scenes to describe how it all played out.  This covert operation, two years in the making, was part of a meticulously planned effort by Mossad to infiltrate and neutralize Hezbollah, and revolved around the sale of a new line of Apollo-branded AR924 pagers, which Hezbollah believed to be untraceable and perfectly suited for battlefield communications. The Origins of the Plot The idea for the operation emerged in 2022, during a period of relative calm along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. Hezbollah, with its vast arsenal of precision-guided missiles and reputation for evading Israeli intelligence, posed an ongoing threat. Israeli officials had grown increasingly alarmed as the group continued to amass weapons capable of striking deep into Israeli territory. Hezbollah had long been paranoid about Israeli surveillance, aware that Mossad had infiltrated its ranks with human informants and electronic monitoring devices. The group’s leaders were particularly wary of communication vulnerabilities, fearing that ordinary cell phones could be used by Israeli intelligence to eavesdrop or track their movements. In response, Hezbollah sought hack-proof communication devices that could withstand the scrutiny of Israel’s high-tech intelligence apparatus. This demand opened the door for Mossad to craft an elaborate deception. The agency developed a strategy to lure Hezbollah into purchasing seemingly secure devices—pagers and walkie-talkies—that were, in reality, booby-trapped with hidden explosives. The first part of the plan involved rigging walkie-talkies with oversized batteries that concealed explosives, allowing Mossad to eavesdrop on Hezbollah communications for nearly a decade. The walkie-talkies, distributed as early as 2015, gave Israel full access to Hezbollah’s communication network while lying dormant as potential bombs, ready to be detonated at a moment’s notice. But in 2022, a new opportunity arose, leading Mossad to focus on a more innovative device: the Apollo AR924 pager. The Sale of the Booby-Trapped Pagers Hezbollah had no reason to suspect foul play when, in 2023, it began receiving solicitations to purchase Apollo-branded AR924 pagers. These pagers, slightly bulky but known for their durability, were designed for use in rugged conditions, making them ideal for Hezbollah’s decentralized network of fighters. One of their key selling points was an oversized battery capable of lasting months without needing to be charged—a crucial feature for operatives in remote areas. The sales pitch came from a trusted source: a marketing official with links to the Apollo brand. This individual, a former Middle East sales representative for the Taiwanese company that manufactured the pagers, had no knowledge of Mossad’s involvement. She established her own company, obtained a license to sell Apollo products, and unknowingly facilitated the sale to Hezbollah. According to Israeli officials familiar with the operation, she convinced Hezbollah leaders that the AR924 pager was perfect for their needs. “She was the one in touch with Hezbollah and explained to them why the bigger pager with the larger battery was better than the original model,” said an Israeli official. What Hezbollah […]