Israel's Mossad placed ‘three grams of explosives’ in pagers sold to Hezbollah: Reports
- In Reports
- 05:40 PM, Sep 18, 2024
- Myind Staff
The reports circulated by Americans and some officials recently made shocking revelations claiming that Israel's Mossad spy agency secretly packed three grams of explosives inside 5,000 pagers that the Lebanese group Hezbollah had ordered, manufacturing them in Taiwan through a company called Gold Apollo. The pagers were tampered with before they arrived in Lebanon. Most of the units were of a model called the AP924, but the shipment also included three other models, officials briefed on the matter told The New York Times.
Nevertheless, Taiwanese business Gold Apollo refuted on Wednesday a claim that it manufactured hundreds of explosive-filled pagers that were utilised by Hezbollah members. "From beginning to end, they are not our products. Head of the company Hsu Chin-kuang asked reporters in Taipei, "How can we produce products that are not ours?" following the NYT's report that his company's pagers were used in the blasts.
Hezbollah made broad accusations against Israel, saying it was preparing an attack. Israel remained silent and did not refute the accusation. The New York Times claims that Israel altered pagers that Hezbollah had requested. They positioned a small amount of explosive material next to each pager's battery, which detonated when Hezbollah fighters used the pagers.
In response, the United States urged Iran to exercise restraint, saying on Tuesday that it was unaware of and had no involvement in the mass explosions of pagers used by Lebanon's Hezbollah. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters, "I can tell you that the US was not involved in it, the US was not aware of this incident in advance, and, at this point, we're gathering information."
Miller did not comment on the prevailing assumption that Israel was to blame for the recent bombings. Israel has been locked in a firefight with Hezbollah since the October 7 attack by Hamas, an ally of Tehran. The bombings came after weeks of U.S. efforts to stave off Iran from responding to Israel's killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as he visited Tehran.
"The U.S. message hasn't changed," Miller said. He urged Iran "not to take any incident as an opportunity to try to add further instability and to further increase tensions in the region." Amos Hochstein, a senior US envoy, met with Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the day before in an attempt to dissuade them from going to war with Lebanon.
"We certainly hope to see Israel and Hezbollah's conflict resolved diplomatically," Miller stated. Tens of thousands of Israelis and tens of thousands of Lebanese have been forced from their homes; Miller stated, "We want to see one that allows them to go back." However, Miller made the suggestion—without confirming Israeli involvement—that Hezbollah was open to strikes. Miller stated, "Countries have the right to conduct operations against terrorists who are members of terrorist organizations."
Image source: News18
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