Summary
On Tuesday, one attack caused pagers to explode across Lebanon and Syria, injuring thousands. A second wave of bombings unfolded on Wednesday, when explosives detonated inside a slew of hand-held radios. Israel is widely assumed to be behind both attacks, reportedly booby-trapped pagers used by Hezbollah members.
An earlier edition of the “Boobytraps” field manual from the same year includes a diagram of a desk phone rigged with an explosive charge in its base. In 1996, the Israeli Security Agency, also known as Shin Bet, is said to used a similar technique to detonate a small charge of explosives near the ear of Hamas bomb-maker Yahya Ayyash.
Nokia cellphone circuitry helped it blend in with the internal circuits of the printer. Ecuadorian journalists in 2023 were sent booby-trapped USB sticks, which, when plugged into their computers, exploded and injured a television presenter.
