Attack on Hezbollah

Prepared pagers apparently come from Hungary

This is what remained of one of the detonated devices.

(Bild: x.com)

The pagers that exploded in Lebanon were apparently not manufactured in Taiwan after all; they simply bore the logo of the Gold Apollo company. Apparently, the prepared devices were produced by a licensed partner in Hungary, although the company in question says there was a misunderstanding.

When asked by Deutsche Presse-Agentur by telephone, Gold Apollo explained that a company based in Hungary had designed and manufactured the radios. "According to an agreement, we authorize BAC to use our trademark for the sale of products in certain regions, but the design and manufacturing will be handled entirely by BAC," Gold Apollo said. The AR-924 model mentioned in media reports will also be produced and sold by BAC. 

Hungarian company: "Do not manufacture pagers"
Cristiana Bársony-Arcidiacono, Managing Director of the Hungarian company BAC Consulting, which has been in existence since 2022, confirmed in a telephone conversation with the American broadcaster NBC on Wednesday that her company is working with Gold Apollo. However, she stated: "I don't manufacture the pagers. I'm just the middleman. I think you have misunderstood."

The head of Gold Apollo, Hsu Ching-kuang, went on to explain that BAC had a representative in Austria called "Tom" who sold products under the Apollo label. However, he himself does not know "Tom" personally. The Foreign Ministry in Vienna also knows nothing about this mysterious Tom.

Gold Apollo boss Hsu Ching-kuang denies any responsibility.

(Bild: APA/AFP/Yan ZHAO)

According to US media reports, the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia had ordered a total of 3,000 radio receivers from Gold Apollo. Many of the pagers that went off came from a delivery that arrived just a few days ago, according to the Wall Street Journal. According to the "New York Times", the delivery had been intercepted by the Israeli secret service and prepared with around 25 to 50 grams of explosives each.

Lebanese politician: "War crime by Israel"
The simultaneous explosions of hundreds of pagers injured around 2,750 people in Lebanon on Tuesday, nine of whom died. Many of the injured are said to be Hezbollah fighters, including members of the elite Radwan force. Hezbollah blamed Israel and announced retaliation. Lebanese parliamentary leader Nabih Berri, who is allied with Hezbollah, spoke of a "massacre and war crime by Israel".

Attack intended to unsettle Hezbollah
According to the US news portal "Axios", the explosions also paralyzed a significant part of Hezbollah's military command and control system. The attack carried out by Israel was aimed at unsettling the powerful militia and creating the feeling in its ranks that it was completely penetrated by Israeli intelligence services, Axios quoted an unspecified source as saying. Israel has not yet commented on the explosions.