At least eight dead and thousands injured from exploding pagers in Lebanon, officials say

[EnterpriseSovereign]

At least eight dead and thousands injured from exploding pagers in Lebanon, officials say

At least eight people have been killed - including members of the militant group Hezbollah - and more than 2,700 injured after hundreds of pagers exploded in Lebanon, officials have said.

Hezbollah has said it holds Israel "fully responsible" for Tuesday's attack.

In a statement, the group said: "This criminal and treacherous enemy will definitely receive a fair punishment for this sinful assault, both in ways that are expected and unexpected."

The Israeli military did not respond when approached for comment.

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Lebanon's health minister, Firas Abiad, said at least eight people were killed and 2,750 injured - 200 of them critically.

Iranian state news reported that its ambassador to Lebanon was among those injured.

Photos and videos shared on social media showed people in Lebanon's capital, Beirut, with wounds to their hands and lower bodies.

One video shared online appears to show an explosion injuring a man as he shopped at a supermarket.

An apparent explosion can be seen coming from the man's right pocket, ripping apart a bag he was carrying and sending him to the floor injured.

Nearby shoppers can also be seen running for cover after the explosion.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah previously warned the group's members not to carry pagers - communications devices which receive and display voice messages.

He said they could be used by Israel to track their movements and carry out targeted strikes.

Lebanon's Health Ministry alerted all hospitals to take in emergency patients, and for people who own pagers to get away from them. It also asked health workers to avoid using wireless devices.

A separate Hezbollah official said that new pagers given to Hezbollah members contained lithium batteries, which, when overheated, can smoke, melt and, on occasion, catch fire.

Rechargeable lithium batteries - which, when set alight, can burn up to 590C - are used in a range of products, including mobile phones, laptops and electric cars.

The incident comes at a time of heightened tensions between Lebanon and Israel.

Hezbollah and Israeli forces have been clashing near-daily for more than 11 months against the backdrop of war between Israel and proscribed terror group Hamas in Gaza.

The clashes have killed hundreds in Lebanon and dozens in Israel, and displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the border.

On Tuesday, Israel said halting Hezbollah's attacks in the north to allow residents to return to their homes is now an official war goal.

I've heard of batteries exploding because of faulty charging gear, but how can they be detonated deliberately like a grenade?

[Batman]

I wouldn't put it past the Israelis to have specifically designed and circulated those pagers for just such an undertaking.

[Ralin]

That's one hell of a trick. And seems like it won't work nearly as well after the first time, so what exactly did they get out of it?

[bilateralrope]

That's one hell of a trick. And seems like it won't work nearly as well after the first time, so what exactly did they get out of it?

Disrupting any communications Hezbollah takes over pagers. Replacing those pagers will take time. Making sure that Israel hasn't tampered with the next batch will take more time.

I've heard of batteries exploding because of faulty charging gear, but how can they be detonated deliberately like a grenade?

It looks like those pagers had actual explosives in them.

https://arstechnica.com/security/2024/0 ... n-lebanon/

Update, 12:55pm ET: The Times adds a small detail: "The devices were programmed to beep for several seconds before exploding, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter."

Several of the explosions were captured on video, and in them, the devices appear to "explode" more in the manner of a small grenade (a bang and a puff of smoke) than a lithium ion battery (which may explode but is often followed by continuing smoke and fire), despite some of the early speculation by Hezbollah officials. This is a breaking story, and the cause of the explosions still remains unclear.

Update, 1:05pm ET: The WSJ quotes regional security analyst Michael Horowitz as suggesting the attack was likely caused by either 1) malware triggering the batteries to overheat/explode or 2) an actual explosive charge inserted in the devices at some point in the supply chain and then detonated remotely.

“Either way, this is a very sophisticated attack,” Horowitz told the WSJ. “Particularly if this is a physical breach, as this would mean Israel has access to the producer of those devices. This may be part of the message being sent here.”

[Solauren]

What proof do they have it as an Israel attack?

Since this probably happened at the plant, it seems more likely a disgruntled employee is responsible.

I mean, is Israel was going to do this, wouldn't they have made sure to hit several manufacturers and explode them all at the same time?

[bilateralrope]

Update from the BBC

The health ministry says 200 of those injured are in a critical condition, with a munition expert telling the BBC the devices were likely packed with up to 20 grams of military-grade high explosive

Scrolling down to the specific article:

Devices might have been loaded with small amount of explosive
published at 17:46 British Summer Time
17:46 BST
Frank Gardner
Security correspondent

The mass sabotage of such a large number of Lebanese pagers required both timely intelligence and technical capability.

Since the start of the Gaza conflict last year, Hezbollah had warned its members not to use mobile phones for fear they could be tampered with by Israeli intelligence agents.

Back in 1996, Israel’s Shin Bet agency assassinated a Hamas bombmaker with explosives in his phone.

Instead, Hezbollah were using pagers to communicate, with a new batch delivered recently.

Somebody - and Hezbollah are in no doubt that Israel was behind this - was able to secretly insert themselves into the supply chain for those pagers.

A former British Army munitions expert, who asked not to be named, told the BBC the devices would have likely been packed with between 10 to 20 grams each of military-grade high explosive, hidden inside a fake electronic component.

This, said the expert, would have been armed by a signal, something called an alphanumeric text message.

Once armed, the next person to use the device would have triggered the explosive. Less than 1% of the exploding pagers have so far proved fatal, but with hundreds seriously injured this is a major psychological blow to Hezbollah.

I think we can rule out a disgruntled employee planting military grade explosives into hundreds of pagers.

As for hitting multiple manufacturers, hitting just one like this sounds like a serious effort. Especially since it seems that they knew about the batch heading to Hezbollah far enough in advance to pull this off.

Though I do have to ask: How many companies are making pagers these days ?

[LadyTevar]

Lebanon is claiming two children were among those killed by the pagers, as well as several health workers among the injured.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

There's more: Walkie-talkies explode across Lebanon killing nine and injuring 300 in new attack

At least nine people have been killed and more than 300 injured after walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah exploded in Lebanon a day after a similar attack left thousands wounded.

Explosions broke out in multiple regions of the country, including at a funeral in southern Beirut being held for an eight-year-old boy and three Hezbollah members killed in Tuesday's attack.

A Hezbollah official said walkie-talkies used by the group exploded as part of blasts heard across Beirut.

Soon after the explosion Israel's defence minister declared the start of a “new phase” of the war as his country turned towards focusing on Lebanon and Hezbollah.

Speaking to Israeli troops on Wednesday, Yoav Gallant made no mention of the explosions of electronic devices in Lebanon in recent days. But he praised the work of Israel’s army and security agencies, saying "the results are very impressive."

He said that after months of war against Hamas militants in Gaza, "the centre of gravity is shifting to the north by diverting resources and forces.”

"We are at the start of a new phase in the war - it requires courage, determination and perseverance," he said.

Israel’s army chief also said they had drawn up new plans to strike Hezbollah.

Israel has refused to comment on whether it was behind the pager attacks but Hezbollah and Iran have both blamed them.

ITV News International Editor Emma Murphy said the funeral was coming to an end and a group of young Scouts had just formed to lead the procession of coffins when the explosion happened a few metres from where they stood.

She said a hand was blown off and panicking people began screaming to turn off all their devices.

The blasts come a day after an apparent Israeli attack, which saw 12 people, including two children, killed and nearly 3,000 people wounded as pagers used by Hezbollah exploded.

The newly delivered pagers were given to Hezbollah to help communicate without using telecommunications that could be intercepted by Israel.

The US said it had no knowledge of the pager attack which saw the devices used by Hezbollah militants explode in Lebanon and parts of Syria.

Asked about the attack at a press conference on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: "The United States did not know about, nor was it involved in these incidents, and we’re still gathering the information and gathering the facts.

"Broadly speaking, we’ve been very clear and we remain very clear, about the importance of all parties avoiding any steps that could further escalate the conflict that we’re trying to resolve in Gaza.

"It’s clearly not in the interest of anyone involved to see that happen, and that’s why again, it’s imperative that all parties refrain from any actions that could escalate the conflict."

Earlier UN special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, denounced the attack and warned that it marks an “extremely concerning escalation in what is an already unacceptably volatile context".

The explosions came amid rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, who have exchanged fire across the Israel-Lebanon border since the October 7 attack by Hamas.

The pagers that blew up were apparently acquired by Hezbollah after the group’s leader ordered members in February to stop using mobile phones, warning they could be tracked by Israeli intelligence.

A Hezbollah official told the Associated Press the pagers were a new brand, but declined to say how long they had been in use.

Taiwanese company Gold Apollo, whose AR-924 pagers were linked to those used by Hezbollah, said BAC Consulting KFT, a Budapest-based company, manufactured them.

“According to the cooperation agreement, we authorise BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC,” the company said in a statement.

BAC is yet to issue a statement.

At about 3:30pm local time on Tuesday, as people shopped for groceries, sat in cafes or drove cars and motorcycles in the afternoon traffic, the pagers in their hands or pockets started heating up and then exploding.

Members of Hezbollah and the Iranian ambassador were among those injured.

It was not immediately clear if non-Hezbollah members also carried any of the exploding pagers.

Earlier Hezbollah said at least eight of the dead belonged to the group, but it is not clear if this number has since changed as the official death toll rose from nine to 12.

Lebanese health minister Firas Abiad said an unspecified number of healthcare workers were also killed and that two-thirds of the wounded needed hospital treatment.

He said the scale of the incident was far greater than the thousands wounded in the massive Beirut Port explosion in 2020, and that most of those wounded were in Beirut and its southern suburbs.

One of those killed was the son of a Hezbollah member in Parliament, according to the Hezbollah official who spoke anonymously.
“We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression that also targeted civilians,” Hezbollah said, adding that Israel will “for sure get its just punishment”.
Iranian state-run IRNA news agency said that the country’s ambassador, Mojtaba Amani, was superficially wounded by an exploding pager and was being treated at a hospital.

Iran, one of Hezbollah's primary supporters, has accused the US and its allies of backing the attack.

“Using devices, made for welfare of human beings, as a tool for assassination and annihilation of those who don’t hold the same views of the US, Israel and the West is an indication of the collapse of humanity as well domination of savagery and barbarism," President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a statement.
“The incident once again showed that Western nations and Americans fully support crime, killings and blind assassinations by the Zionist regime, in practice.”
Iran has already sent a group of Iranian medics to Lebanon to help victims of the explosions.

While Israel has not claimed responsibility, a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press that Israel had briefed the United States after the attack.

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Hundreds in Lebanon and dozens in Israel have been killed in clashes across the border since October 7, which have also displaced tens of thousands on both sides.

Speaking to the AP after his son, Mahdi, was killed on Tuesday, prominent Hezbollah politician Ali Ammar said: “This is a new Israeli aggression against Lebanon. The resistance will retaliate in a suitable way at the suitable time.”

Israel said on Tuesday that stopping Hezbollah’s attacks in the north to allow residents to return to their homes is now an official goal.

Lufthansa suspended all flights to Tel Aviv and Tehran in response to the explosions.

The airline said all flights to and from those airports would be cancelled and routes would bypass Israeli and Iranian airspace up to and including September 19.

Israel’s military said they had intercepted two suspicious drones that approached Israel from Lebanon and Iraq on Wednesday morning.

It said one drone was launched from Lebanon over the Mediterranean Sea near the coast of northern Israel, while another was launched from Iraq and intercepted by Israeli fighter jets. No injuries or damage was reported.
Israel also began moving more troops to the northern border with Lebanon in preparation for a possible retaliation.

A UK FCDO spokesperson said: “We continue to monitor the situation in Lebanon closely and the UK is working with diplomatic and humanitarian partners in the region. The civilian casualties following these explosions are deeply distressing. We urge calm heads and de-escalation at this critical time.”

The Foreign Office also updated its travel advice to include information on the explosion of communication devices, saying British nationals in Lebanon should exercise caution and that hospitals may be very busy.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy urged Britons to leave Lebanon several weeks ago, saying that they risk “becoming trapped in a warzone” if they fail to do so.

[Solauren]

Well, any chance of it being a lone individual managing to do this with alot of luck just died an explosive death....

[Zwinmar]

Well. That is one way to take out command and control while instilling paranoia

[Raw Shark]

That's one hell of a trick. And seems like it won't work nearly as well after the first time, so what exactly did they get out of it?

Well. That is one way to take out command and control while instilling paranoia

This. I disagree with a lot that Israel does out of conscience, but credit where it's due. In callous pragmatic terms, that was one hell of a trick to do once.

[Ralin]

Saw someone elsewhere say that Hezbollah may have been close to figuring the plot out and that this might have been a use it or lose it decision instead of them jumping the gun for painfunnies.

[Solauren]

The Sheer parania and work this is going to create in the Middle East is staggering.

I mean, any electronic component that could be sent and 'arm code' is now a potential explosive.

[Grand Moff Yenchin]

Edit: And now comes the strikes.....
https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news ... index.html

Israel says it struck approximately 100 Hezbollah rocket launchers
From CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq, Hamdi Alkhshali and Lauren Izso

The Israeli military continued to strike Hezbollah sites on Thursday, saying it hit approximately 100 rocket launchers,.

In addition to the launchers, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that it struck “additional terrorist infrastructure sites, consisting of approximately 1000 barrels that were ready to be used in the immediate future to fire toward Israeli territory.”

Each rocket launcher consists of a multi-barreled weapon that can fire unguided rockets.

According to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency, Israel carried out at least 52 strikes in the south of Lebanon between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. local time.

The Iranian-backed Hezbollah group earlier on Thursday said it launched at least 17 attacks on military sites in northern Israel.

Israel’s military has released instructions for the communities in several areas in northern Israel, instructing civilians to minimize movements in the areas to avoid gatherings and to stay close to shelters.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Israel has also explosively cleared a path through its own minefield on their border with Lebanon. No prizes for guessing what for...

[Solauren]

Something occured to me.

Hezbollah paid for the pagers that exploded, right?

Did Israel actually make a profit on this?

That adds a whole other level of WTF to this scenario.

[Ralin]

Something occured to me.

Hezbollah paid for the pagers that exploded, right?

Did Israel actually make a profit on this?

That adds a whole other level of WTF to this scenario.

Surely they simply contrived to grab a shipment of pagers bought from some third party, altered them and covered it up or something like that?

Even if they didn't I imagine a dozen grams of high explosive probably costs more than a pager. To say nothing of paying the people doing the work of rigging the pagers to blow.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

Something occured to me.

Hezbollah paid for the pagers that exploded, right?

Did Israel actually make a profit on this?

That adds a whole other level of WTF to this scenario.

Surely they simply contrived to grab a shipment of pagers bought from some third party, altered them and covered it up or something like that?

Even if they didn't I imagine a dozen grams of high explosive probably costs more than a pager. To say nothing of paying the people doing the work of rigging the pagers to blow.

Makes me wonder if the Israelis also modified the pagers to retransmit/forward any message they receive to their own dedicated receiver, because that would be a great way to spy on their communications.

[EnterpriseSovereign]

At least eight killed in Lebanon as Israeli strikes target Hezbollah commander

At least eight people have been killed in Lebanon after the Israeli military carried out a strike targeted at Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Akil, an Israeli official has said.

It has yet to be confirmed whether Akil died in the strike, but a Hezbollah source has said he was supposed to be in a building hit by a missile on Friday.

Akil has served as the head of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force and Jihad Council, the group’s highest military body.

The United States State Department has sanctioned Akil for his alleged role in carrying out the 1983 bombing of the US embassy in Beirut.

He has also been sanctioned by the US for directing the taking of American and German hostages in Lebanon during the 1980s.

Explosions could be heard from Beirut's southern suburbs on Friday afternoon. Lebanon's Health Ministry says at least 59 are wounded.

Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV reported a drone fired several missiles towards the heavily populated area known as Dahiyeh.

The Israeli strike on Beirut's crowded southern suburbs hit during rush hour, as people headed home from work and children left school.

The strike marks the first Israeli attack on the Lebanese capital in months, and came after Hezbollah struck Israel with 140 missiles, the Israeli military and the militant group said.

According to Israel’s military, the rockets came in three waves on Friday afternoon and targeted sites along the border with Lebanon.

Hezbollah claimed it hit the headquarters of an Israeli armoured brigade and multiple air defence bases.

In a televised statement on Thursday, the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, pledged that Israel will "face severe and fair punishment", but stopped short of full-scale retaliation.

He said the deadly electronic device explosions in Lebanon that happened over two days had crossed "all red lines".

Tel Aviv earlier released footage of overnight airstrikes on dozens of Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, hitting hundreds of rocket launches that were ready to fire, the IDF said on Friday.

On Thursday, two Israeli soldiers were killed in an anti-tank missile attack and others were wounded. The IDF is now drawing up and approving a battle plan for Lebanon as Israeli hospitals are preparing for a mass-casualty scenario.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy has called for an "immediate ceasefire" in the Middle East as tensions continue to grow between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Lammy made the comments on Thursday evening after a meeting with Western counterparts, saying the issue is "of huge concern at this time".

Speaking to reporters, Lammy said: "All of us are monitoring it very closely and we are all very, very clear that we want to see a negotiated political settlement, so that Israelis can return to their homes in northern Israel, and, indeed, Lebanese can return to their homes.

"That's why tonight I'm calling for an immediate ceasefire from both sides, so that we can get to that settlement, that political settlement that's required."

The latest conflict between Israel and Hamas began on October 7 when Hamas killed more than 1,100 people in Israel and abducted over 250. Some 97 hostages remain unaccounted for, thought either to be dead or still in Hamas captivity.

Since then, 41,000 people have died in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

International efforts to mediate a cease-fire have repeatedly stalled as each side accuses each other of making additional and unacceptable demands.

[Ralin]

Something occured to me.

Hezbollah paid for the pagers that exploded, right?

Did Israel actually make a profit on this?

That adds a whole other level of WTF to this scenario.

Surely they simply contrived to grab a shipment of pagers bought from some third party, altered them and covered it up or something like that?

Even if they didn't I imagine a dozen grams of high explosive probably costs more than a pager. To say nothing of paying the people doing the work of rigging the pagers to blow.

Makes me wonder if the Israelis also modified the pagers to retransmit/forward any message they receive to their own dedicated receiver, because that would be a great way to spy on their communications.

And also a lot more effort/chance of discovery/etc.

[Solauren]

I read a theory at lunch; that the Pagers were made by a shell company owned by Israeli intelligence.

There was no compromised supply chain, it was done at the factory. They sold the pagers to their enemies, and detonated them. The sheer balls of this plan is mind-blowing. And quite frankly, that's James Bond super-villan level shit.

Which also means they could have set it up to send copies of all transmissions, etc, to them as well.
If they hide a GPS in them, they could have also been tracking movements for who knows how long. So they'd know where the people that had the beepers lived.

[bilateralrope]

There was no compromised supply chain, it was done at the factory.

That would still be a compromised supply chain. Especially when there is doubt about who manufactured them.

What we know about firm linked to Lebanon pagers

1 day ago

Tom Edgington, Joshua Cheetham, William Dahlgreen & Daniele Palumbo
BBC Verify

The Lebanese government says 12 people, including two children, were killed after thousands of pagers used by the armed group Hezbollah exploded.
BBC Verify has been looking into a firm called BAC Consulting, which has been linked to the production of the pagers - despite the devices bearing a different manufacturer's name.
A short while after the explosions took place on Tuesday, unverified images of two damaged pagers surfaced on social media. In the photos, the word “Gold” and a serial number starting either “AP” or “AR” was visible. This indicated that a Taiwanese company - Gold Apollo - could have been involved in the pagers' manufacture.
However, the firm put out a strongly worded statement denying any involvement, saying: “This model is produced and sold by BAC.”
BAC Consulting is a Hungarian-based company which Gold Apollo says had permission to use its brand through a licensing agreement.
BBC Verify has accessed BAC’s company records, which reveal it was first incorporated in 2022 and has a single shareholder. It is registered to a building in Budapest's 14th district.
As well as BAC, a further 13 companies and one person are registered at the same building.
However, our search of a financial information database does not reveal that BAC has any connections to other companies or people.
The same database shows no trading information about BAC. For example, there are no records of any shipments between it and any other firms.
However, BAC's website, which is now inaccessible, previously said it was scaling up its business in Asia, and had a goal to "develop international technology co-operation among countries for the sale of telecommunication products".
According to records, BAC had a net turnover of 256,996,000 Hungarian Forint ($725,000; £549,000) in 2022, and 210,307,000 Hungarian Forint ($593,000; £449,000) in 2023.
A company brochure, published on LinkedIn, lists eight organisations BAC claims to have worked with - including the European Commission and the UK Department for International Development (DfID).
BBC Verify has approached all the listed organisations for comment. The UK Foreign Office - which has taken on DfID's responsibilities - told us it was in the process of investigating. But based on initial conversations, it said it did not have any involvement with BAC, despite the firm's claim.

BAC's website listed one person as its chief executive and founder - Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono - and does not appear to mention other employees.
BBC Verify has learned she graduated from the University of Catania with a physics degree in 2001. According to her LinkedIn profile, she also holds PhDs from two London universities.
Her professional profile also states she was a board member of the Earth Child Institute (ECI) - an international non-profit organisation. However, it told us that Ms Bársony-Arcidiacono "is not and never has been an official member of the Earth Child Institute board of directors".
The ECI said that she was introduced to them in 2017-18 and there was an exchange of emails "to explore if and how she could support ECI". However, "no one at ECI has not been in contact with this person in the years since 2018 and there is no current connection with her".
Elsewhere, Ms Bársony-Arcidiacono was listed as chief sustainability officer on the website of an organisation called Eden Global Climate Impact Group. However, this section of the website has now been removed.
We have made several attempts to contact Ms Bársony-Arcidiacono, but have been unable to reach her.
NBC has reported it had spoken to Ms Bársony-Arcidiacono, who confirmed her company worked with Gold Apollo. However, when asked about the pagers and the explosions, she said: "I don’t make the pagers. I am just the intermediate. I think you got it wrong."
The BBC has called BAC a number of times, but there is no answer.
A spokesperson for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has said the exploding pagers were "never" in Hungary.
“Authorities have confirmed that the company in question is a trading intermediary, with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary,” government spokesperson Zoltán Kovács said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Separately, Bulgaria’s national security agency has said it is investigating the links of another company to the sale of the pagers.
While the agency has not named the company, Bulgaria's main TV channels were told that only money - rather than goods - was transferred. The value of the transactions was reported to be worth €1.6m (£1.3m), with the most recent one going to Hungary.

Japan firm says it stopped making walkie-talkies used in Lebanon blasts

1 day ago

Shaimaa Khalil
BBC News

A Japanese handheld radio manufacturer has distanced itself from walkie-talkies bearing its logo that exploded in Lebanon, saying it discontinued production of the devices a decade ago.
At least 20 people were killed and 450 injured after hundreds of walkie-talkies, some reportedly used by the armed group Hezbollah, exploded across Lebanon on Wednesday.
The devices, according to photos and video of the aftermath of the attack, appear to be IC-V82 transceivers made by Icom, an Osaka-based telecommunications manufacturer.
But Icom says it hasn’t produced or exported IC-V82s, nor the batteries needed to operate them, for 10 years.
It is the second Asian company to be embroiled in bombing incidents in Lebanon this week, after thousands of exploding pagers seemingly linked to Taiwanese firm Gold Apollo killed at least 12 people and injured more than 2,000.
Gold Apollo's founder Hsu Ching-Kuang flatly denied his company had anything to do with the attacks, saying he licensed his trade mark to a company in Hungary called BAC Consulting, whom the BBC has been unable to contact.

Icom told the BBC it was aware of reports that two-way radio devices bearing its logo had exploded in Lebanon, and said it was investigating the matter.
"The IC-V82 is a handheld radio that was produced and exported, including to the Middle East, from 2004 to October 2014. It was discontinued about 10 years ago, and since then, it has not been shipped from our company,” Icom said in a statement.
“The production of the batteries needed to operate the main unit has also been discontinued, and a hologram seal to distinguish counterfeit products was not attached, so it is not possible to confirm whether the product shipped from our company.”
Icom further added that all its radios are manufactured at the same factory in Japan, and that it only sells products for overseas markets via authorised distributors.

Earlier, a sales executive at the US subsidiary of Icom told The Associated Press news agency that the exploded radio devices in Lebanon appeared to be knockoff products that were not made by the company – adding that it was easy to find counterfeit versions online.
The device is favoured by amateur radio operators and for use in social or emergency communications, including by people tracking tornadoes or hurricanes, he said.
It took the BBC a matter of seconds to find Icom IC-V82s listed for sale in online marketplaces.
It is unclear at which point in the supply chain these devices were compromised and how. It is also unclear if some of them were merely old Icom IC-V82s, or counterfeits as Mr Novak claimed.

Lebanon’s Annahar newspaper on Wednesday said the Icom walkie-talkies were old handsets.
Reports suggest the walkie-talkies that exploded were purchased by Hezbollah five months ago, according to a security source speaking to Reuters news agency.
Icom produces walkie-talkies and radio devices for marine, aviation and land users, and considers itself a "world leader in the amateur radio market", according to its website.
Asia is considered a global hub for telecoms and electronics, with countries like Japan, Taiwan and China being home to major tech producers that are often favoured as a benchmark of quality.
BBC Verify investigated BAC Consulting, the company linked to the pagers involved in Tuesday's explosions, and found that the firm has a single shareholder and is registered to a building in the Hungarian capital Budapest's 14th district.
As well as BAC, a further 13 companies and one person are registered at the same building. BBC Verify's search of a financial information database, however, does not reveal that BAC has any connections to other companies or people.
Its CEO Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono said she knew nothing about the explosions. “I don’t make the pagers. I am just the intermediate. I think you got it wrong," she told NBC.

[Ralin]

I read a theory at lunch; that the Pagers were made by a shell company owned by Israeli intelligence.

There was no compromised supply chain, it was done at the factory. They sold the pagers to their enemies, and detonated them. The sheer balls of this plan is mind-blowing. And quite frankly, that's James Bond super-villan level shit.

Which also means they could have set it up to send copies of all transmissions, etc, to them as well.
If they hide a GPS in them, they could have also been tracking movements for who knows how long. So they'd know where the people that had the beepers lived.

If the Mossad set up their own pager company and tricked Hezbollah into buying from them I expect there would be a lot more trapped pagers in circulation.

[Solauren]

If the Mossad set up their own pager company and tricked Hezbollah into buying from them I expect there would be a lot more trapped pagers in circulation.

Who says there are not?

Instead of blowing them all up at once, staggering them amps the psychological warfare level up.

[Ralin]

If the Mossad set up their own pager company and tricked Hezbollah into buying from them I expect there would be a lot more trapped pagers in circulation.

Who says there are not?

Instead of blowing them all up at once, staggering them amps the psychological warfare level up.

Doesn't really make sense now that the cat is out of the bag and people know to check or get rid of their pagers. You don't get to pull something like this repeatedly.