“Pager attack”: at least 15 thousand devices failed to explode during the operation

The simultaneous explosion on September 17 of four thousand pagers with which the Shiite terrorist organization Hezbollah had provided all its high-ranking activists and some partners, including, as it turned out, the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, was one of the most successful Mossad operations in the entire history of Israeli intelligence.

However, after the publication of the details of the operation and its implementation, less rosy reports began to appear. Thus, according to i24 News, the scale of the strike on Hezbollah was planned to be much larger, but approximately 15 thousand pagers did not detonate on the bodies of the militants at the estimated time.

The operation was planned to be carried out at the beginning of the Iron Swords war, but due to fears of disclosure, it was postponed. Had the operation been carried out earlier in the war, its success would have been greater.

Nevertheless, the success of the operation was colossal, dealing a heavy blow to Hezbollah, significantly reducing the group's capabilities before the start of the IDF ground operation in Lebanon, and having a significant impact on pro-Iranian groups and Iran.

Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah personally watched as the pagers of several key commanders of the group exploded: this happened during a command meeting where he was present. What happened made a strong impression on Nasrallah. The simultaneous explosions that killed 4,000 terrorists were triggered by an encrypted message that required two buttons to be pressed simultaneously to read.

The Mossad repeatedly tested the pagers to ensure that the explosive charge was sufficient to defeat the device's owner, but that people would not be harmed by the explosion. Since militants only carry walkie-talkies in combat situations, Israel needed devices that the group's activists would carry with them at all times: pagers were a perfect fit.