Raylan Givens Profile picture
Oct 16, 2024 9 tweets 3 min read Read on X
🚨EXCLUSIVE NEW DETAILS ABOUT THE PAGERS - A THREAD: Just when you thought it couldn't get crazier, Reuters released brand new details about Mossad's brilliant pager operation against Hezbollah in September. I will break down the most important parts and the exciting moments.
Let's start with the construction of the pagers themselves. The explosive component, Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (otherwise known as PETN), did the most damage. Mossad technicians found a way to insert a very thin square sheet of PETN between two battery cells and a strip of highly flammable material to act as a detonator. This entire package was placed into a plastic sleeve, which was encapsulated in a metal case roughly the size of a matchbox.
When the command was given, the flammable strip generated a spark to light the detonator and trigger the PETN to explode. The explosives took away some of the battery's power, which Hezbollah noticed when the battery would drain faster than expected. However, they never put two and two together and continued to use and issue the devices.
The complexity of this construction is essential for one primary reason: without metal components like a standard detonator or wires, the explosive element was utterly undetectable by X-ray. Israel knew that upon receiving the pagers, Hezbollah would likely check them for tampering or explosives, which is precisely what happened. Using airport-style security scanners, Hezbollah did indeed check the pagers, but thanks to Mossad's ingenuity, the explosive was not detected.
Now we get to the really interesting part, which is the lengths the Mossad went to create a cover story for their ruse. The PETN battery pack that Mossad constructed had a label on it: LI-BT783, and this was an issue because that specific battery did not exist. The Mossad started by creating a custom model for the entire pager, AR-924. They approached a renowned Taiwanese brand, Gold Apollo, to add it to their catalog.
Hsu Ching-Kuang, the chairman of Gold Apollo, was approached by a former employee and her new boss named "Tom" to inquire about adding the model. Ching-Kuang said that while he wasn't impressed by the AR-924 when he saw it, he agreed to grant a license under the brand and add photos and a description of the product to his company's website, thus unknowingly establishing the legitimacy of the Mossad's pager.
In September 2023, a website named came online with the AR-924 listed as a product. The site was tied to a Hong Kong-based company, Apollo Systems HK, of which no record exists today. In late 2023, two additional online states came online with the LI-BT783 battery listed in their product list, amongst other legitimate units.apollosystemshk.com
Users in two online forums discussing batteries even made posts about the LI-BT783 and the AR-924, praising its "great performance" and ruggedness for field use. When Hezbollah searched for a new pager, their procurement manager chose the AR-924. The salesperson who brokered the deal offered a "very inexpensive proposition" and continued reducing the price until the Hezbollah manager agreed.
In the wake of the explosions, Hezbollah launched an internal probe of what went wrong. However, the senior official leading the investigation, Nabil Kaouk, was himself killed in an Israeli strike just 11 days after the pagers went off. The internal investigation is supposedly still in progress...

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More from @JewishWarrior13

Jan 18
🧵RELEASE OF ISRAELI HOSTAGES – HOW WILL IT WORK? @Doron_Kadosh of IDF Radio published the details on how the release of the Israeli hostages will work from start to finish. Here’s how it’s supposed to happen over the next 42 days 👇
The process starts when the list of hostages to be released are transferred from Hamas to the PM of Qatar about 24 hours before the release. The list is approved by the negotiation team, and the recommendation is forwarded to PM Netanyahu for approval.
After the list is approved, the negotiation team updates the Defense Coordinator, Gal Hirsch. The hostage families are then updated by the Defense Coordinator and the Abductees' Director.
Read 8 tweets
Jan 18
🧵BIBI'S SPEECH TONIGHT – WHAT DID HE SAY? Tonight, PM Netanyahu addressed the Israeli public on the incoming hostage deal and ceasefire in Gaza. Here's what you need to know 👇
🔵“We will meet all war goals - we will bring everyone home.”

🔵“We reserve the right to return to war, if necessary, with the support of the US.”
🔵“I appreciates Trump's decision to remove all restrictions on arms supplies to Israel.”

🔵“If we have to go back to war, we will do so with new means and with great force.”

🔵“Full backing is given for returning to war if Israel realizes that the next phase is futile.”
Read 5 tweets
Jan 18
🧵EXCERPTS FROM WHAT BIBI TOLD THE CABINET: Israeli journalists have started to release excerpts from what PM Netanyahu told the Cabinet and the Knesset during the hours of debate last night before they voted to approve the hostage deal. Here are the takeaways 👇
Bibi told the Cabinet that Hamas demanded, as a condition for its entry into the framework for further release, that Israel commit in advance to ending the war and evacuating Gaza – but he did not agree to this. This was the main obstacle to the deal, and he was not willing to compromise on it.
“I insisted that we could return to fighting with the support of the US, if Israel came to the conclusion that it was impossible to reach agreements in the next stages of the deal – and I did receive such a commitment, both from Biden and Trump.”
Read 8 tweets
Jan 14
🧵🔴Under current conditions, this is the best deal you could get. Analysis from Ron Ben Yeshai
On the one hand, the deal to release the hostages, which is expected to be signed soon, will allow the release of most of the living hostages and will preserve Israel's ability to exert military and humanitarian pressure on Hamas to release all the hostages in the second phase. On the other hand, the price of releasing thousands of Palestinian terrorists could endanger Israeli citizens. Still, the deal's advantages, including the political ones vis-à-vis Trump, outweigh its disadvantages.
The deal to release the hostages, which will probably be closed today (Tuesday) or in the coming days, is the best that could have been achieved under the current conditions. Its main drawback is that it was not completed earlier, back in the summer of 2024, but we will leave the discussion of this question to historians. At the moment, it seems that this is a deal whose advantages, from the Israeli point of view, far outweigh its disadvantages. First, it allows for the return of most of the kidnapped men and women who are still alive – those who are called "humanitarian cases" and are the weakest, for whom every day in Hams' hands is critical.
The emerging outline also creates a strong incentive for Hams to continue releasing all the hostages it holds because the current deal already includes several clauses that relate to "the day after." Another advantage is that the ceasefire and the increased humanitarian aid that will be received during it will create pressure on Hamas to complete the deal by releasing all the hostages from the Gazan population, most of whom are living in almost inhuman conditions in the Al-Mawasi shelter areas in the southern Gaza Strip.
Read 11 tweets
Jan 13
🧵HOSTAGE DEAL DETAILS: Israeli political sources tell IDF Radio (@Doron_Kadosh) that "progress has been made in all components of the agreement formula, and optimal conditions have been created for a deal that until now could not be reached." Here are all of the details 👇
Phase A: Hamas will release 33 Israeli hostages and they have not yet told Israel how many of those 33 are alive. These include women (civilians and soldiers), children, adults over the age of 50, the wounded and the sick.
The first hostages will be released at the very beginning of Phase A. Also, Israel does not commit to ending the war, and can return to fighting at the end of Phase A. On the 16th day of Phase A, detailed negotiations will begin on Phase B.
Read 9 tweets
Jan 10
🧵🔴How can Israel defeat Hams at this point?

In the 1980s, senior figures in the Muslim Brotherhood movement used the term "purification precedes liberation." Hams, which is the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, acted by this principle when it threw Fatah activists off rooftops during the military coup in the Gaza Strip in 2007.
The same principle of the Muslim Brotherhood from the 1980s could also work in the Gaza Strip. Israel should work to segment the Gaza Strip - divide it into many small, separate territorial areas with clear geographical demarcations and then begin to purge these territorial cells of terrorists - to turn them into sterile areas free of weapons and terrorists.
Once cleared and secured, entry into each such territorial area would be permitted to any Gazan resident who desires to undergo a physical check and a check with the various intelligence systems. In this way, within a few months, most of the territorial areas in the Gaza Strip could be clean and sterile, while in the regions that have not yet been cleared, the IDF would be able to exert greater military force than in areas where there is currently a mix of terrorists and the civilian population.
Read 8 tweets

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