Hezbollah had distributed the pagers even a few hours before the explosion
Hours before the explosion, Hezbollah in Lebanon was handing out new Gold Apollo brand pagers to its members. While testing the electronic device to detect threats, Hezbollah deemed it safe. International news agency Reuters reported this information on Friday citing two security sources.
A member of Iran-backed Hezbollah received a new pager on Monday. The next day the pager exploded while still in the box. But a few days ago, a pager given to a senior member was blasted by a subordinate member.
Thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah were detonated on Tuesday. The next day, hundreds of Hezbollah walki-talkies were exploded. 37 people, including at least two children, were killed and more than 3,000 injured in the successive attacks.
Batteries of those Walki-Talki's were filled with a highly explosive compound known as PETN. Another Lebanese source familiar with the device's components told Reuters on Friday. Up to three grams of explosives hidden in pagers went undetected by Hezbollah for months.
A security source said it was very difficult to detect explosives 'with any device or scanner'. Hezbollah did not specify what kind of scanners it used to check the pagers.
Hezbollah began testing the pagers in Lebanon in early 2022. Hezbollah members even went to the airport with the devices to make sure the airport alarms warn when the pagers were carried.
A security source said Hezbollah conducted regular tests on the pagers to see if the device worked, rather than suspecting a specific issue. They did not suspect anything, whether they contained explosives or surveillance systems.
