Israel had been planning the secret operation of exploding phones for 15 years

The CIA was reluctant to use this tactic for a long time because the risk to innocent people was too great, the source said.

An ABC News source confirmed that front companies were involved in the planning of the attack, and that several layers of Israeli intelligence officials and their employees were behind a legitimate company that made the pagers, and at least some of the employees did not know who they were really working for.

Israel’s involvement in the production was first reported by The New York Times.

Sources said the pagers were packed with one to two ounces of explosives and a remote detonation switch.

At least 37 people have been killed and 2,931 injured in explosions of pagers and radio stations in Lebanon over the past two days, according to Lebanese Health Minister Firas al-Abyad.

On Thursday, the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel escalated, with Israel striking Lebanon and Hezbollah returning fire.

ABC News contacted both Hungary-based BAC Consulting, which was contracted to make the pagers on behalf of Gold Apollo, and the Taiwanese company, but neither company responded to repeated requests.

The pagers were never located in Hungary, and the company was a “trading agent with no production or operations in Hungary,” a Hungarian government spokesman told ABC News on Wednesday.

The Hezbollah leadership used old-style pagers

In a speech on Thursday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the group’s leadership had old pagers, not the new ones that exploded in the attack, which were reportedly delivered in the past six months. The group has launched a detailed investigation into the blasts.

“Not all pagers were distributed, and some were turned off,” Nasrallah said.

“In two days, the enemy wanted to kill at least 5,000 people. <...> The enemy knew there were 4,000 pagers,” he added.

NYT: The Modern Trojan Horse

“Zuma press” / “Scanpix” / Ataka Libane

15min reminds that more details about Israel’s secret plan were published by The New York Times. According to the newspaper, which cited three Israeli intelligence officials, Israel set up at least three companies that helped run an operation to supply Hezbollah members with explosive pagers.

The newspaper also said it spoke to 12 former and current Israeli Defense Ministry officials, who said the pager operation was complex and required lengthy preparation. The publication calls this operation a “modern-day Trojan horse.”

One of the front companies was Hungary-based BAC Consulting, the publication said. BAC Consulting also made conventional pagers, the NYT says, but “the only client that really mattered” was Hezbollah.

Explosives are not implanted in pagers, but specially made ones

ZUMAPRESS / Scanpix photo/Message pager

Pagers for group members were produced separately. Inside the devices were batteries filled with the explosive material PETN, sources said.

The sources said Israel created at least two more shell companies to hide the true identities of the Israeli intelligence officials who built the pagers.

February Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has spoken out against the group’s use of cellphones after several militants identified using cellphone networks were killed. Hezbollah commanders began using pagers. The NYT writes that pagers with explosives will begin to be imported into Lebanon as early as 2022. in the summer, but after H. Nasrallah’s statements, the supply was increased.