Turkey intercepts 1,300 Israeli pagers en route to Lebanon
ynetnews.com
Turkish intelligence seized a shipment of 1,300 pagers bound for Lebanon, allegedly rigged with hidden explosives inside batteries, days after wide scale operation against Hezbollah.
Turkish intelligence services intercepted a shipment of over 1,300 pagers in Istanbul that were allegedly en route to Lebanon — just days after a Mossad operation targeting similar devices held by Hezbollah terrorists, Turkish outlet Sabah reported Tuesday.
According to the report, Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) received information about the shipment and began inspecting ports and airports, eventually discovering that the delivery was scheduled for September 27. None of the details in the Sabah report have been confirmed by Israeli authorities or other media outlets.
The shipment reportedly arrived on September 16, one day before a series of explosions occurred in Lebanon. It consisted of four pallets sent from Taiwan via a cargo flight from Hong Kong. The 61 boxes, weighing approximately 850 kilograms (1,874 pounds), were declared as “food processors” on the shipping manifest.
Turkish security forces, accompanied by a bomb disposal unit, opened the boxes and discovered 1,300 pagers, including devices manufactured by Taiwanese company Gold Apollo, alongside about 710 detonators, batteries and cables. The shipment also contained 144 mini handheld blenders, cameras and additional electronic components.
The pagers were immediately sent to a lab, where Turkish officials claimed they found “a highly flammable white explosive substance — approximately 3 grams (0.1 oz) — hidden inside the batteries.” Similar material was reportedly found in the associated detonators.
The owner of the Istanbul-based company listed as the shipment’s recipient was questioned and claimed his firm provides customs consulting services rather than freight or shipping. Turkish media added that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan raised the issue in a December conversation with former Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, informing him of the seizure and destruction of the pagers.
The Mossad’s so-called “pager operation” was launched on September 17 over concerns it might soon be exposed. On the operation’s first day, Hezbollah terrorists’ pagers detonated in Lebanon and Syria. A day later, on September 18, their walkie-talkies exploded as well.
According to a Reuters investigation published in October last year, the pagers sent to Lebanon in February 2023 contained miniature plastic explosives embedded in batteries, along with a novel detonation system that was undetectable via standard X-ray screening.
The rigged batteries were engineered to appear normal but held only about one-third the energy capacity expected for their size. Experts cited in the report noted that while a standard 35-gram (1.2 oz) battery would typically provide 8.75 watt-hours, the modified battery held just 2.22 watt-hours — suggesting much of the internal volume was taken up by explosives.
