U.S. and other officials briefed on the unprecedented attack on Hezbollah members in Lebanon confirm to The New York Times that it was orchestrated by Israel and that it was a supply chain operation.
Specifically, Israel “planted” the explosives inside a new batch of doorbells, manufactured in Taiwan. Hezbollah ordered the Gold Apollo bombers from Taiwan and they were tampered with before they arrived in Lebanon, according to the officials who spoke to the newspaper.
The explosive material and the message at 3:30 p.m.
Most were the company’s AR924 model, although three other Gold Apollo models were also included in the shipment.
The explosive material, weighing just 30 to 60 grams, was planted near the battery in each doorbell, two officials said. A switch that could be activated remotely to detonate the explosives was also embedded.
At 3:30 p.m. Lebanese time, the suicide bombers received a message that appeared to come from Hezbollah leadership, two of the officials said. That was the message that detonated the explosives.
Lebanon’s health minister told state media that at least 11 people had been killed and more than 2,700 injured. According to three of the officials, the devices were programmed to emit beeps for several seconds before detonating.
Israel has not commented on the attack. American and other officials spoke to The Times on condition of anonymity, given the sensitive nature of the operation. Independent cyber experts who studied footage of the attacks said it was clear that the force and speed of the explosions were caused by some kind of explosive material. “These devices were probably modified in some way to cause this kind of explosion — the size and power of the explosion suggest it was not just the battery,” said Mikko Haiponen, a research specialist at the software company WithSecure and a cybercrime consultant for Europol.
They hit the Achilles heel
Keren Elazari, an Israeli cybersecurity analyst and researcher at Tel Aviv University, said the attacks targeted precisely where Hezbollah was most vulnerable. Earlier this year, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah severely restricted the use of cellphones, which he saw as increasingly vulnerable to Israeli attacks, according to some officials and security experts.
“This attack hit the Achilles heel because it took out a central means of communication,” Elazari said. “We have seen these types of devices, buzzers, targeted in the past, but not in such sophisticated attacks.” More than 3,000 pagers were ordered from the Gold Apollo company in Taiwan, several officials said. Hezbollah distributed the bombers to its members across Lebanon, but also to Hezbollah allies in Iran and Syria.
