2024 Pager and Radio Attacks on Hezbollah

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Part of a series on 2023-2024 Hamas-Israel Conflict. [View Related Entries]

Overview

The 2024 Pager and Radio Attacks on Hezbollah refer to a covert attack on the Lebanese Islamist political party and paramilitary group Hezbollah in mid-September 2024, which involved two simultaneous remote explosions of encrypted pagers, radios and receivers carried by members of the group. While unconfirmed, Hezbollah placed the blame for the attacks, which resulted in the deaths of at least 23 people and injuries of about 3,450 according to Lebanon's health ministry, on Israeli intelligence, which allegedly infiltrated the supply chain in order to set off explosions remotely through unknown means. The method used for this remains unknown, but many have speculated it was achieved by causing the electronics to overheat and explode or an explosive material was added prior to the distribution of the devices that were then triggered remotely to detonate. The attacks became a viral subject of discussions and memes on social media in mid-September 2024 as the story garnered international news coverage amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.

Background

On September 17th, 2024, at approximately 3:30 local time, multiple explosions took place in several areas in Lebanon, including Beirut's Dahieh suburb and Beqaa Valley where the group has a strong presence. The coordinated explosions affected pagers used for encrypted communication by Hezbollah militants. According to Lebanon's health ministry, nearly 3,000 people were injured by the explosions, and at least nine people died, including a 10-year-old.^[2] The Iranian ambassador to Lebanon was also notably injured in the attack.

The attack involved the nearly simultaneous explosion of pager devices carried by Hezbollah militants, which some initially believed was triggered by the pagers overheating. However, later on September 17th as the story was picked up by news outlets around the world, many experts speculated that the method used did not involve overheating the devices but rather hardware tampering.^[9]^[10]

Following the explosions across the country, videos of the aftermath, including footage of injured people, were spread on social media, including Telegram, X / Twitter, Reddit and other sites.

Developments

That same day, September 17th, 2024, Hezbollah blamed Israel for the attack, warning that the country "would be punished."^[2] Israel did not immediately comment on the attack and it's unconfirmed who was behind the operation.

According to military experts who weighed in on the story the day of, Israel had purportedly infiltrated Hezbollah's supply chain, rigging the communication devices with explosives.^[3]^[4]

On September 17th, 2024, Sky News Arabia reported that Israeli intelligence agency Mossad injected the devices with the explosive compound PETN before they reached Hezbollah and were distributed between its members in February 2024.^[5]^[6]

Al Jazeera reported that the weight of the explosive placed in the devices was below 20 grams.

Hand-Held Radio Explosions

On September 18th, 2024, it was then reported that hand-held radios used by Hezbollah detonated in a separate attack across the south of Lebanon, including Beirut suburbs and the Bekaa Valley. During this event, Lebanon's health ministry claimed that 14 people were killed and another 450 were injured.^[1]

Online Reactions

The September 17th, 2024, attack carried out via explosive pagers became a subject of viral discussions on social media that day, in part due to the novelty of the tactic. Videos and photographs of the attacks and their aftermath were widely circulated online on Telegram, X and other platforms.

The attacks also notably became a viral subject of jokes and memes on social media. The way the perpetrators were able to access the devices became a popular subject of humorous speculations.

For example, on September 17th, 2024, X^[7] user @Kama_Kamilia posted an Awkward Look Monkey Puppet meme that received over 790 reposts and 11,000 likes in one day (shown below).

Various memes imagining the final messages pagers received before the explosion was set off were circulated. For example, an image created by X^[8] user @Pslcharlie and shared by user @MarinaMedvin (shown below) garnered over 5,700 reposts and 51,000 likes in one day.