27 September 2024

The Brilliance of “Operation Grim Beeper”

Michael Doran

On September 17, thousands of Hezbollah operatives’ pagers exploded, killing at least 10 and injuring many more. Below is Senior Fellow Michael Doran’s analysis of this unprecedented attack, which he named Operation Grim Beeper.

Operational Complexity

This is one of the most astonishing intelligence operations in history. It is a reworking of the story of the Trojan Horse for the digital age, and it deserves to become nearly as legendary as its iconic predecessor. If we are not utterly astounded, it is because we have seen too many James Bond and Black Mirror movies for our own good. In real life, operations like this just don’t happen. It is at least four operations in one.

First, the Israelis thoroughly mapped Hezbollah’s supply chain.

Second, they invented a special explosive charge small enough to be inserted inside a handheld device, sophisticated enough to be remotely activated, big enough to do real harm, and yet not so prominent, physically or electronically, to call attention to itself.


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