At least 39 Iran-backed Hezbollah members were killed and nearly 3,000 others injured when hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by them exploded across Lebanon in an operation by Israel in September.

Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency planted explosives inside pagers ordered by Hezbollah months before the blasts on September 17 and 18.

Two recently retired senior Mossad agents, who were among the key members behind the secret operation, told CBS News that the work on weaponizing the walkie-talkies began more than a decade before Israel used them in September after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu permitted the attack.

“The walkie-talkie was a weapon, just like a bullet or a missile or a mortar,” Michael (name changed) told CBS News.

“We want them to feel vulnerable, which they are,” he added.

Michael said they can’t use the pagers again because they already have, but warned Hezbollah that they have already moved on to the “next thing”.

“They’ll have to keep on trying to guess what the next thing is,” he said.

Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in a deadly fight across the Lebanese border since the war in Gaza erupted after Hamas attacked Israeli towns on October 7 last year. The fighting has resulted in the deaths of more than 4,000 people, including senior Hezbollah members like the group’s chief Hassan Nasrallah, and the displacement of tens of thousands on both sides of the border.

Detailing the inside story of the Israeli operation, Michael told CBS News that the walkie-talkie battery was made in Israel at a Mossad facility and included an explosive device.

He claimed that Hezbollah bought more than 16,000 of the exploding devices, some of which were eventually used against them in September.

“They got a good price,” he said.

The former Mossad agent also revealed that the price couldn’t be too low because Israel didn’t want Hezbollah members to be suspicious. He also said Mossad needed to hide its identity as the seller and ensure the walkie-talkies couldn’t be traced back to Israel, which is why they set up shell companies to infiltrate the supply chain.

“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,” he said. “And the world is our stage.”

How Mossad Designed Pagers For Hezbollah

Former Mossad agent Gabriel, who also spoke to CBS News using a false name, said the walkie-talkies were designed to go into armoured tactical vests used in battle, but Mossad wanted to plant devices that Hezbollah members would have on them at all times. So, the agency began development on boobytrapped pagers in 2022, he said.

He said Mossad had learned that Hezbollah members were buying pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. 

The Gold Apollo pagers were sleek, and shiny and could fit into pockets. Mossad needed a larger pager to fit explosives inside, he said. 

Gabriel said using dummies, Mossad started conducting tests with the pager inside a padded glove, held next to the dummy’s face, to calibrate the grams of powdered explosive needed to be just enough to hurt the fighter, and not the person next to him. The plan was only to hurt Hezbollah members with pagers, not people nearby, he said.

“We test everything, triple, double, multiple times to make sure there is minimum damage,” he said. 

He also revealed that Mossad set up shell companies, including one in Hungary, to dupe Gold Apollo into working with it. Mossad fully manufactured the pagers and had a licensing partnership with Gold Apollo, so everything looked legitimate to Hezbollah. 

“When they are buying from us, they have zero clue that they are buying from the Mossad. We make like the ‘Truman Show,’ everything is controlled by us behind the scenes,” he said. 

“In their experience, everything is normal. Everything was 100% kosher,” he added.

Mossad also hired the Gold Apollo salesperson Hezbollah was used to working with, who was unaware she was working with the Israeli spy agency. Gabriel said she offered Hezbollah the first batch of pagers as an upgrade, free of charge and by September 2024, Hezbollah members had about 5,000 pagers in their pockets. 

Gabriel said the aim of the walkie-talkie and pager plot wasn’t to kill people. 

“If he’s just dead, so he’s dead,” he said. “But if he is wounded, you have to take him to the hospital, take care of him. You need to invest money and effort. And those people without hands and eyes are living proof, walking in Lebanon, of ‘don’t mess with us.'”