The Mossad plot to boobytrap more than 5,000 pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah with high-powered explosives was two years in the making, according to reports.
At least 40 people were killed, and thousands more injured, in Lebanon across two days in mid-September after Israel set off explosives that were embedded within communication devices used by the terror group.
The explosions, which killed terrorists and Lebanese civilians alike, immediately called Hezbollah's security practices into question.
The Washington Post reported that Mossad, Israel's shadowy foreign intelligence and operations agency, began its plot to fill the pagers with explosives in 2022, more than a year before Hamas' October 7 attack.
The pager plan came after Mossad was able to fill Hezbollah's walkie-talkies with explosives as early as 2015, leaving them to lay dormant until they needed to be set off.
Hezbollah, which has long been an enemy of Israel, used the low-grade pieces of tech to communicate with their fighters in order to stave off intelligence gathering by its foes.
Though the pagers and walkie-talkies were effective for a time, the Post revealed that Mossad had begun inserting booby-trapped devices into Lebanon nine years ago, with each device being fitted with an oversized battery pack, a hidden explosive and a transmission system that allowed Israel to listen in on communications.
For several years, the Israelis were content on eavesdropping on Hezbollah and holding on to the option to detonate them when they wanted.
One of the main selling points about the AR924 was that it was 'possible to charge with a cable. And the batteries were longer lasting,' the official said.
Mossad's pagers, which weighed less than three ounces each, held a battery pack that carried a tiny amount of a powerful explosive, enough to cause severe damage.