Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese company, announced on Wednesday that it had granted authorization to use its brand on the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria. However, the actual manufacturing of the pagers was done by a company based in Budapest, not by Gold Apollo. The pagers in question were used by members of Hezbollah and detonated near-simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria, resulting in at least nine fatalities and over 2,000 injuries, including a young girl.
The specific pagers involved in the explosions were the AR-924 model, produced by BAC Consulting KFT in Hungary’s capital, as stated in a release by Gold Apollo. Under a collaboration agreement, Gold Apollo permitted BAC to utilize their brand trademark for product distribution in designated regions, while BAC held sole responsibility for the design and manufacturing processes.
Despite Gold Apollo’s involvement through a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years, the company’s chairman, Hsu Ching-kuang, did not present any proof of the contract to the media. The explosive incidents occurred on Tuesday around 3:30 p.m., causing chaos and casualties in areas where Hezbollah holds significant influence, such as a suburb in southern Beirut and the Beqaa region of eastern Lebanon, along with locations in Damascus.
The pagers, known for their durability and rechargeable lithium battery, were capable of receiving text messages up to 100 characters in length and touted up to 85 days of battery life. These features were crucial in Lebanon, plagued by frequent power outages amidst severe economic hardships. Pagers, operating on a separate wireless network from mobile phones, remain a preferred communication tool, especially in emergency situations like those faced by hospitals globally.
Hezbollah reportedly viewed the pagers as a countermeasure against perceived Israeli surveillance on mobile networks within Lebanon. Leader Hassan Nasrallah cautioned about the surveillance capabilities of phones in a speech, emphasizing the need for vigilance against potential security breaches. The incidents have raised concerns about the infiltration of explosive materials into the pagers at an earlier stage within the supply chain, indicating a sophisticated plot behind the destructive events.
