A photo taken on September 18, 2024 in Beirut’s southern suburbs shows the remains of an exploded pager on display at an undisclosed location.
– |AFP|Getty Images
Taiwanese pager maker Gold Apollo has denied reports that it produces the devices at the center of deadly attacks in Lebanon that killed at least 12 people and injured nearly 3,000.
Thousands of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded simultaneously across Lebanon on Tuesday night, overloading local emergency services and filling hospitals with the injured. Lebanese security sources reportedly said the devices contained explosives planted by the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.
According to Reuters, Gold Apollo founder and president Xu Jingguang told reporters in New Taipei City, Taiwan on Wednesday: “The product is not ours, it just has our brand on it.” He then said that the devices (model number AR-924) are Manufactured by BAC Consulting in Budapest, Hungary.
Reuters quoted Gold Apollo’s statement saying that it had authorized BAC to “use our brand trademarks to sell products in specific regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are entirely BAC’s responsibility.”
BAC did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Iran-backed Hezbollah, a militant political group with significant power in Lebanon, said it distributed pagers to its members, many of whom have stopped using their phones to evade Israeli surveillance.
Hezbollah called the act “Israeli aggression”; at the same time, Israel has not yet commented on the explosion. Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was injured in the attack, and the son of a Hezbollah lawmaker was killed in the attack.
The Lebanese group has been engaged in almost daily fighting with Israel in the south and has vowed to retaliate, raising fears of an all-out war in a region already ravaged by conflict. Hezbollah has launched thousands of rockets It is nearly 12 months since Israel launched a war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza on October 7.
Hezbollah’s leadership has previously said it does not seek a wider war but would launch one if Israel provoked it. Just hours before the massive pager explosion, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that his government aimed to return its citizens, those displaced by Hezbollah attacks, to their homes in northern Israel.
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