What Is Pager, Hezbollah's Mainstay Device That Was Exploded

YOGYAKARTA - What is a pager? This communication tool is used by displaying short text for its users. This communication tool has been used by Hezbollah members since 6 months ago, and conflicts with Israel are increasing. On Tuesday, September 17, 2024, hundreds of Hezbollah pagers exploded throughout Lebanon. The incident killed nine people and thousands of people were injured. The explosion occurred at around 15:45 local time, and lasted for an hour.

Quoted from Al-Jazeera, the explosion of the pager occurred in Dahiyeh, the outskirts of southern Beirut, the cities of Ali Al-Nahri and Riyaq in the central Lebanese Beqaa valley, and also in faraway and lecherous, South Lebanon, right at the location where residents are active, such as markets to shops.

Pager is a small-sized communication device, and was used before the widespread use of cell phones. Some people call the pager a call radio. In the 90s, this communication tool was popular to send short messages. Because of its distinctive voice, some people also call it the term haber.

Generally pagers are in the form of rectangulars, and are very small in size, so they can be taken anywhere easily. In addition, there is a minimalist screen to display messages. Pagers are used with radio signal codes at certain frequencies, then transmitted via providers. It is known that the pager was found in 1956 by Multitone Electronic. At that time, the pager was widely used by doctors at St Hospital. Thomas who was carrying out duties in an emergency. In addition to the hospital area, the use of pagers spread throughout the country.

After understanding what a pager is, now is the time for us to find out why the pager in Lebanon exploded. Below are some of the possibilities why the pager exploded simultaneously:

So far, there is no definite information on the reason why the pager could explode at the same time. However, some parties have speculated that there is a possibility that the radio network in the pager was hacked, so the system emits a signal that triggers the response of the pager when hacked.

Quoted from a source close to Hezbollah, the exploding pager was linked to recent shipments. It is known, Hezbollah imported 1000 devices that were seen being sabotaged from the source. Previously, Israeli intelligence forces had attached explosives to private phones to target the enemy. Hackers have demonstrated their ability to inject malicious codes into the device, causing the temperature to be too hot, and exploding.

Pager can explode if the lithium battery is too hot. This situation will trigger a process called the thermal runaway. Furthermore, chemical chain reactions ensued, and temperatures increased, resulting in a severe explosion.

Citing Al Jazeera, according to data analyst Ralph Baydoun, every member of Hezbollah who was at a certain level was attacked. From a number of reports, before it explodes, the pager suddenly becomes hot. The lithium pager battery triggered by too hot can trigger the thermal runaway process.

In fact, chemical chain reactions can occur, so the temperature increases, and eventually the battery explodes violently. However, it is not easy to trigger chain reactions in some devices that are never connected to the internet. In other words, there must be a bug on the pager, so it becomes too hot as a result of certain circumstances.

It has speculation, through a modified code, something is put in the pager. According to Charles Lister of the Middle East Insititute, a small explosive must have been hidden next to the battery so that it could be detonated remotely via a call or pager. It is possible that Israel's spy agency Mossad infiltrated the supply chain.

That's a review of what a pager is, Hezbollah's flagship device that was detonated. Visit VOI.id to get other interesting information.