Pager bombs target Hezbollah in Lebanon. What we know so far

It is not yet fully known how exactly the pagers were detonated

New Delhi:
Hundreds of Hezbollah pagers exploded across Lebanon today, killing eight people and wounding Tehran’s ambassador in Beirut. The Iran-backed militant group blamed Israel for the explosion. The Israeli military made no comment.

1. Hezbollah has been using a private landline telecommunications network since the early 2000s, Reuters news agency reported on July 9.

2. The use of pagers appears to be an extension of this method of limiting communication to the essential in order to prevent interception and tracking.

3. It is not yet clear exactly how the pagers were detonated. Some experts on social media have expressed suspicion that Israeli intelligence officials intercepted a large order of Hezbollah pagers and either tampered with small plastic explosives or replaced the pagers with similar-looking models that are actually mini-bombs.

4. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had previously warned members of the group not to carry mobile phones because Israel could use them to track their movements and carry out targeted attacks.

5. Israel’s wiretapping operations – which include hacking of mobile phones and computers – are also widely regarded as some of the most sophisticated in the world.

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