'Don't mess with us' – Shocking new details of Israel's Mossad operation to detonate Hezbollah pagers, instilling fear across Middle East

Among the numerous shocking developments of the ongoing war, the series of mysterious, unexplained explosions of Hezbollah’s communication devices in September might have been the single most dramatic event.

First, thousands of small pagers and beepers were detonated wounding and maiming thousands of terrorists and killing scores. The next day, walkie-talkie devices exploded, many of them during funerals for the victims of the first attack.

Israeli officials initially did not comment on the events. However, as the following weeks revealed that these actions were the opening phase of a deliberate campaign to dismantle and ultimately eliminate Hezbollah's top leadership, reports began to emerge detailing the unbelievable intelligence operation behind them.

On Sunday, the CBS TV program "60 Minutes" aired interviews with two former Mossad agents who were intimately involved in the years-long pager operation, revealing new insights into the incredible lengths the Mossad went to prepare the deadly surprise.

“We want them to feel vulnerable, which they are,” said Michael, one of the former Mossad operatives. “We can't use the pagers again because we already did that. We've already moved on to the next thing. And they'll have to keep on trying to guess what the next thing is.”

Michael explained that the operation began 10 years ago when the Mossad began weaponizing walkie-talkies by putting into the battery an undetectable explosive device, which the intel service had developed themselves,.

“As I understand it, these walkie-talkies went into a tactical vest that a soldier would put on, and then this would go in the pocket?” asked journalist Lesley Stahl. “So, Israel sold this device to Hezbollah. Hezbollah paid for this weapon that was to be used against them.”

“They got a good price,” Michael confirmed. “A ‘good price’ that couldn't be too low or they'd be suspicious. In the end, Hezbollah bought over 16,000 of these exploding walkie-talkies that Israel then didn't activate for 10 years, until three months ago.”

For this task, the Mossad began creating shell companies. “We create a pretend world. We are a global production company. We write the screenplay, we're the directors, we're the producers, we're the main actors, and the world is our stage,” Michael said.

He noted that Mossad’s motto, “From Proverbs 24:6, says in so many words: wage war through deception and trickery – kind of like the CIA’s ‘smoke and mirrors’ – which is what this operation was all about, starting with those walkie-talkies.”

But a walkie-talkie is not only used in battle, limiting its usefulness for Mossad’s plans – which is why the agency began to work on a second phase.

“A pager is almost obsolete around the world, but Hezbollah [was] still using it,” emphasized Gabriel, the second former Mossad operative during the interview.

The Mossad realized Hezbollah was buying pagers from Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese company, and decided to try and sell the terror group pagers it had manufactured, as it had done with the walkie-talkie bombs.

“Using dummies, Mossad conducted tests with the pager in a padded glove to calibrate the grams of explosive needed to be just enough to hurt the fighter – but not the person next to him,” Gabriel explained. “If we push the button the only one that will get injured is the terrorist himself. Even if his wife or his daughter will be just next to him, he's the only one that's going to be harmed.”

However, the modifications made to the device meant it had to be larger. Gabriel said Mossad Director David Barnea was sure nobody would buy such a bulky pager.

“He was furious. He was telling us, ‘There is no chance that anyone will buy such a big device. It's not comfortable in their pocket. It's heavy,’” Gabriel said.

He decided to “sell” the device’s size by emphasizing its special features. The Mossad advertised its new pager as “Robust. Dustproof. Waterproof. Long battery life,” eventually making it “the best product in the beeper area in the world,” Gabriel said.

The marketing campaign was so successful that the Mossad had to turn down requests from other companies to buy their device. “Obviously, we didn't send to anyone [else]. We just quoted them with [an] expensive price,” Gabriel said.

“Mossad wanted to use the name ‘Gold Apollo’ on its pager, so it set up shell companies, including one in this building in Hungary, to dupe the Taiwanese into partnering with them… Gold Apollo had zero clue that they are working with the Mossad, and neither did Hezbollah.”

“We make like [the] ‘Truman Show,’ everything is controlled by us behind the scenes. In their experience, everything is normal. Everything was 100% kosher, including businessmen, marketing, engineers, showroom, everything,” Gabriel said.

The operation was a total success and by September 2024, Hezbollah had purchased 5,000 pagers, most of which it distributed to mid-level commanders.

After indications that Hezbollah was getting suspicious of the devices, Barnea gave the green light for “operation beeper.” On Sept. 17, at 3:30 p.m. in the afternoon, chaos broke out across the country as thousands of pagers started exploding.

The next day, Mossad also activated the walkie-talkie. According to CBS, about 30 people died, including two children, and around 3,000 were injured.

Gabriel explained that the operation’s main aim wasn’t to kill terrorists but to instill fear and suspicion into Hezbollah. “Those people without hands and eyes are living proof, walking in Lebanon, of ‘don't mess with us.’ They are walking proof of our superiority all around the Middle East.”

The effects were even visible on the face of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who gave a speech two days later, Gabriel claimed. “If you look at his eyes, he was defeated. He [had] already lost the war. And his soldiers looked at him during that speech and they saw a broken leader. This was the tipping point of the war.”

He even said that Nasrallah saw several people being wounded by beeper explosions right next to him, in his bunker. “In his own eyes, he saw them collapsing,” Gabriel said. When asked how he could have this information, he only replied, “It's a strong rumor.”

Despite Israel’s successes, Gabriel doesn’t think Hezbollah is defeated completely, but noted it is now “in a very, very difficult situation, no chain of command, no spirit in their soldiers, asking, begging, for a ceasefire.”