American intelligence officials said the operation to detonate thousands of communication devices used by Hezbollah in Lebanon was at least 15 years in the making, ABC News reported late on Friday.
Explosion of communication devices at a funeral in Dahiyeh, Lebanon
"Planning for the attack involved shell companies, with multiple layers of Israeli intelligence officers and their assets fronting a legitimate company that produced the pagers," the network said, adding that at least some of those involved were unaware of who they were really working for.
ABC's sources said 30 to 60 grams of explosives were inserted into the pagers along with an electronic trigger. One source said similar attacks were also considered by the CIA but rejected because of the high risk to innocent bystanders.
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Offices of Hungarian BAC company implicated in the pager attacks in Beirut
(Photo: Zeev Avrahami)
According to reports in Lebanon, over 3,000 Hezbollah operatives were wounded when the pagers exploded and 450 more were hurt in the second wave of the attack a day later, when hand radio devices also exploded.
Officially Hezbollah confirmed 37 fatalities in total but Israeli officials estimated the death toll to be much higher.