The blackened husks of pagers and handheld radios that exploded in a colossal attack on Hezbollah this week have become fragmentary clues to how Israel orchestrated what current and former Israeli and Western security officials said was part of an elaborate, decade-long effort to penetrate the militant group. Markings on the mangled electronic components have left a trail leading back through a manufacturer in Taiwan to a Hungarian shell company suspected of being set up or exploited by Israeli intelligence to disguise its alleged role in delivering the lethally rigged devices to Hezbollah.
Current and former officials have described it as part of a multipronged effort by Israel over the past decade to develop what Israeli officials referred to as a "red button" capability - meaning a potentially devastating penetration of an adversary that can remain dormant for months if not years before being activated.
Israel's reason for pressing one such "red button" this week remains murky, though experts have speculated that Israeli officials were worried that the conversion of thousands of pagers to miniature IEDs was at risk of being detected. Such attacks are generally designed to be unleashed as a prelude to a broader offensive, officials said, sowing chaos in preparation for follow-on military operations.
The explosions on Tuesday killed at least 12 people and wounded as many as 2,800, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry, including Hezbollah operatives but also civilians and children. A second wave involving radios on Wednesday killed at least 25 people and injured 450, the ministry said.
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