ISRAEL’S pager plot could be inspired by a spy film and the country is goading Hezbollah into starting a war, an ex-Mossad agent says.
Nearly 3,000 people were injured yesterday and 12 were killed in the sabotage attack leaving Lebanon in chaos and hospitals full of bloodied and injured.
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Avner Avraham claims Israel is directly challenging Hezbollah to start a war in retaliation, so it can then invade Lebanon and wipe them out.
Avraham says the chess move attack was Israel saying: “Don’t mess with us”.
He said: “The attack yesterday was so strong and wide if they (Hezbollah) do start a limited war, they will lose immediately.
“In the north, we have to start a limited war and we prefer that Hezbollah would make the first mistake.
“The response would be a huge damage to Lebanon, it would go 100 years back.”
But, the 28-year spy veteran says Hezbollah has been left weak with so many people injured and Lebanon plunged into chaos.
“Now they don’t have a different kind of communication system, all their hospitals are full with injured people, this is the best time to attack them.”
Avraham said he believed Israel needed to attack Lebanon and create a “dead zone” inside the country where nobody lived.
That buffer would provide safety for the Israelis living in the north of the country – tens of thousands of whom have been displaced since fighting began last year.
Avraham also said it is possible that the attack could have been inspired by gadgets used in spy films, something he did as an agent.
“Sometimes we use examples ideas from James Bond films, we took ideas, I can tell you this for sure.
He said: “No one could write the script for yesterday. This is the real example of thinking outside the box… All the world saw what happened yesterday, this is the money time.
“If Mossad is doing something and wants to declare it, they will declare it… In all cases they just do it and disappear.
“That’s the whole idea, you don’t know who is responsible for this, you don’t have any idea.
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He said that it is likely only trusted Hezbollah members and the group’s associates had the pagers.
The Iranian ambassador to Lebanon was injured in the blast in an embarrassing situation for the Islamic Republic.
“Think about the fact you don’t give these pagers to the house keeper or the one that cleans the cars in the parking area you give it to the people that have a position.
“Sometimes the effect is stronger than killing one terrorist. Think of the thousands of them that can’t sleep in the same bed day after day.”
Avraham said the timing of the attack was also important, with the first anniversary of October 7 only weeks away.
“We didn’t start this war. We didn’t ask for this war.”
Hezbollah blamed Israeli spies for allegedly booby-trapping the pagers with explosives – vowing to deliver “just punishment”.
In a statement, Hezbollah said: “We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression.
“Israel will certainly receive its just punishment for this sinful aggression.”
A Hezbollah source said the pagers were “brand new” and had not been used by fighters before.
The pagers started heating up and then exploding in people’s hands or pockets at 3.30pm yesterday afternoon.
The blasts left blood-splattered scenes sent bystanders running for cover.
The attack comes as Israel has expanded its war plans away from Gaza to secure the north of the country.
The country’s leaders added a new goal to its list of three primary post-October 7 war aims: “The safe return of the residents of the north to their homes”.
Defence chief Yoav Gallant warned the new objective could only be achieved by “military” action.
The announcement paves the way for the first full-scale invasion of southern Lebanon since 2006 in a drive to push back the terror group and allow Israelis to return home.
Prime Minister Netanyahu added “it will not be possible to return our residents without a fundamental change in the security situation in the north”.
One plan being considered by Israeli war chiefs is a move to occupy a buffer zone inside southern Lebanon.
Where did the pagers come from?
By James Halpin, Foreign News Reporter
Iranian proxy Hezbollah ordered the pagers months ago but never thought the quaint piece of tech could be tampered with.
Hezbollah shifted to pagers after the group’s leader told members to stop using phones in February over fears they could be tracked by Israeli spies.
A senior Lebanese security source said the group had ordered 5,000 beepers made by Taiwan-based Gold Apollo, which were brought into the country in the spring.
But Gold Apollo told media in Taipei today the specific order was manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT in Budapest.
Gold Apollo boss Hsu Ching-kuang said BAC asked to manufacture their own pagers with the company’s trademark and they were paid from a mystery Middle Eastern bank account, NPR reports.
BAC Consulting chief executive Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono confirmed to media that her company worked with Gold Apollo.
But said, “I don’t make the pagers. I am just the intermediate.”
At some point during the manufacture, the devices were modified by Israel’s spy service with a small amount of explosive.
The AR-924 pager is described as being “rugged” and contains a rechargeable lithium battery with 85 days of battery life.
Their longevity would be important in Lebanon which has suffered major power outages.
Pagers also run on a different wireless network than mobile phones, making them more resilient in emergencies and harder for Israel to hack digitally.
The affected pagers were only delivered to Hezbollah recently, but other associates of the group were also injured, including the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon.
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