Two former Israeli Mossad agents have revealed how members of the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah used explosive-laden wireless communications devices for 10 years before they were detonated by Israeli agencies in September.

The two former agents told US CBS News how the agency tricked Hezbollah into buying thousands of communications devices and buzzers without realizing they were made in Israel.

Dozens of people were killed and thousands injured in the attacks. Israel said the attack targeted only Hezbollah members, but civilians were among the victims, Lebanese officials said.

The UN human rights chief called the attack a war crime.
At the time of the attack, Israel and Hezbollah had escalated their conflict after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.

On September 17, 2024, thousands of bombs went off simultaneously across Lebanon, mostly in areas with a strong Hezbollah presence. The explosions injured or killed users, as well as some who were near the devices, spreading panic and confusion. The next day wireless communication devices exploded in the same way, killing and injuring hundreds more.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted two months later that Israel was responsible, Israeli media reported at the time.
In an interview with the American CBS, the two former agents revealed details of the operation.

One of the agents, named Michael, said the Mossad had hidden an explosive device inside the batteries of the communication devices, which he said were usually carried in a pocket closer to the user’s heart.

He said Hezbollah had unknowingly bought more than 16,000 communication devices at a “good price” from a bogus company 10 years ago.

“We have an incredible variety of foreign company creation capabilities that cannot be traced back to Israel,” Michael said. “Shell companies against other shell companies to influence the supply chain to our advantage.

“We create a fictional world. We are a global production company. We write the script, we are the directors, we are the producers, we are the main actors, and the world is our stage.”

The business expanded two years ago to include buzzers, he told CBS.

The Mossad found that at the time Hezbollah was buying buzzers from a Taiwanese company called Gold Apollo, he said. He created a fake company that used the name Gold Apollo on buzzers rigged with explosives, without the parent company realizing it.

The American network reported that the Mossad put enough explosives inside to only harm the user.

“We’re doing a lot of testing, two and three times to make sure there’s minimal damage,” said the second agent, whose name in the interview was Gabriel. He said the Mossad specifically chose a ringtone that would convey a sense of urgency for the user to check the incoming message.

Gabriel said the agency tricked Hezbollah into buying the buzzers by making commercials and flyers and distributing them online.

“When they were buying from us, they didn’t know they were buying from the Mossad,” he said. “We’re doing it like the Truman Show movie, everything is controlled by us behind the scenes.”

Hezbollah had purchased 5,000 of the trapped bombers by September 2024, he told CBS.

They were fired by Israel when the Mossad feared that Hezbollah was becoming suspicious, he added.

The explosions sent shockwaves throughout Lebanon, as they took place everywhere, even in supermarkets. Hospitals were overwhelmed with victims, many of whom had been mutilated.

Gabriel said there was a “strong rumor” that people were injured in front of then-Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Days later, with Hezbollah still investigating the attack, Israel began airstrikes against the group’s targets, followed by a ground invasion of Lebanon.

The two sides agreed to a ceasefire on November 26.