# Exploding Pagers in Lebanon {2024-09-17} **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 17, 2024, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pagers-in-lebanon-2024-09-17/1007395 "2024-09-17T18:27:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2024, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pagers-in-lebanon-2024-09-17/1007395/161 "2024-09-18T20:24:40Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > This is beginning to sound like the prelude to an all out Israeli attack. Step 1: Take out their comms. There is all-out and there is all-out. Israel does have at least a couple of divisions already up there, though, and there are political (among other) reasons why Israel may feel like expanding the conflict now. ---
**Author:** ![phs3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phs3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phs3)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2024, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pagers-in-lebanon-2024-09-17/1007395/162 "2024-09-18T20:26:15Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > if you let your young child handle your pager, that’s on you While I have little sympathy for Hezbollah, I can imagine the pager beeping and the kid picking it up to hand to a parent. That’s not really irresponsible parenting. Well, it wasn’t until yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2024, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pagers-in-lebanon-2024-09-17/1007395/163 "2024-09-18T20:31:45Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Of course, Hezbollah has no problem attacking civilians and conducting suicide bombings, but again, they are a non-state actor that is not subject to the international “laws of war” and international conventions where Israel ostensibly is. (emphasis mine) Why not? If the leader of Hezbollah were captured, couldn’t they be tried for war crimes committed under their leadership? ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2024, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pagers-in-lebanon-2024-09-17/1007395/164 "2024-09-18T20:33:30Z")
> [@phs3](#): > > That’s not really irresponsible parenting. obviously it’s terribly sad for the innocent child. But the irresponsible thing is being a parent and choosing to work as a terrorist. If you love your child, you can raise her by choosing to be a janitor, a truck driver, or a professor of Greek philosophy. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2024, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pagers-in-lebanon-2024-09-17/1007395/165 "2024-09-18T20:42:59Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > You would have thought that Hezbollah immediately checked _all_ of their electronic equipment after yesterday’s blast. They sure are much dumber as an organisation than Mossad. And then, just as they get out the radios to check them - kaboom! > [@Alessan](#): > > Hezbollah has been firing dozens of rockets into Israel every day since last October. Civilians have been killed, buildings have been destroyed and towns have been abandoned. My sister, who lives in the north, has been a refugee for 11 months. We’re way past that stage. The hornets have been swarming for a long time already. This is a key point. The story is being reported as if this is a surprise blow out of nowhere. But in fact, Hezbollah has launched something like 7,500 rockets at Israel since Oct 7. > [@chappachula](#): > > If you love your child, you can raise her by choosing to be a janitor, a truck driver, or a professor of Greek philosophy. What if you love your child and want to create a better future for them - a future free from any disgusting Jews? To understand a Hezbollonchik, you must think like one. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2024, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pagers-in-lebanon-2024-09-17/1007395/166 "2024-09-18T21:06:02Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Pretty much all countries spy on everyone else. I agree. I would be disappointed in our CIA if they didn’t. Maybe they could skip Nauru. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2024, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pagers-in-lebanon-2024-09-17/1007395/167 "2024-09-18T21:17:55Z")
This is claimed to be the model of walkie-talkie-owie used. It is “discontinued–no longer available”. > **[ICOM IC-V82 ICOM IC-V82 144 MHz VHF FM Transceivers | DX Engineering](https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/ico-ic-v82#overview)** > > Free Shipping - ICOM IC-V82 144 MHz VHF FM Transceivers with qualifying orders of $99. Shop Handheld Transceivers at DX Engineering. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2024, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pagers-in-lebanon-2024-09-17/1007395/168 "2024-09-18T22:15:15Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > This is claimed to be the model of walkie-talkie-owie used Love that term 🤣 > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > It is “discontinued–no longer available”. Someone didn’t read the specs closely enough: > [@](#): > > Other great features of the ICOM IC-V82 144MHz VHF FM Transceivers include: > > - NOAA weather channel receive (USA version only) > - Reversible control knob and up/down buttons assignment > - Durable construction and simple operation > - 16 DTMF dial memory > - PC cloning capability > > Supplied accessories include: > > - Battery case or battery pack > - Desktop charger > - Antenna > - Belt clip > - Small explosive charge > > Additional digital features: > > - Digital code squelch > - EMR communication > - Mossad controlled remote detonation ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pagers-in-lebanon-2024-09-17/1007395/169 "2024-09-19T00:00:30Z")
The Gruniad has an article that traced the pagers (via a very upset Taiwanese supplier) to a Hungarian subcontractor who have no indication of ever actually making any pagers. The implication is this subcontractor was a front and actually these pagers were manufactured by Israel: > **[Hezbollah device blasts: what do we know about how the attacks happened?](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/18/hezbollah-pagers-what-do-we-know-about-how-the-attack-happened)** > > What sources are saying about the techniques behind the simultaneous explosion of thousands of devices ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pagers-in-lebanon-2024-09-17/1007395/170 "2024-09-19T00:08:54Z")
According to Al Jazeera there are reports of [several different devices blowing up](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/18/more-devices-exploding-across-lebanon-whats-happening) > Among them are walkie-talkie radios, **mobile phones, laptops and even some solar energy systems.** Several cars reportedly exploded as well, but it is not clear if those were caused by the car itself exploding or something inside it. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pagers-in-lebanon-2024-09-17/1007395/171 "2024-09-19T00:21:00Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > The Gruniad has an article that traced the pagers (via a very upset Taiwanese supplier) to a Hungarian subcontractor who have no indication of ever actually making any pagers. The implication is this subcontractor was a front and actually these pagers were manufactured by Israel: I didn’t spend extensive time digging, but I can’t find any Apollo AR924 pagers actually for sale anywhere–even sites like Ebay–though you can buy Apollo A_ **L** _924 pagers. The product page disappeared the day of the explosion. That continues to make me suspicious that the AR924 was designed for and sold to only one customer and was always the explody model. (I don’t know if I should read anything into the Gruniad illustration saying the pager should weigh 90 grams and the archived product page saying it weighs 95 grams.) ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pagers-in-lebanon-2024-09-17/1007395/172 "2024-09-19T01:36:27Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > obviously it’s terribly sad for the innocent child. > But the irresponsible thing is being a parent and choosing to work as a terrorist. > If you love your child, you can raise her by choosing to be a janitor, a truck driver, or a professor of Greek philosophy. And then they get killed by a bomb, a drone strike, or a soldier _anyway._ This is the same logic commonly used for indiscriminate killing. Heck, Hezbollah could use the same “look what you made me do” reasoning to justify its killings easily enough. This is a terror attack. It won’t be _called_ that because Israel is a nation-state and “terrorist is what the big army calls the little army”, but that doesn’t change the reality of it. If Hezbollah did the same thing everyone would be screaming at how it’s horrible terrorist attack. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pagers-in-lebanon-2024-09-17/1007395/173 "2024-09-19T01:37:48Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > This is a terror attack. It won’t be _called_ that because Israel is a nation-state and “terrorist is what the big army calls the little army”, but that doesn’t change the reality of it. You’ll forgive my lack of tears for the poow innocent widdle tewwowists. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pagers-in-lebanon-2024-09-17/1007395/174 "2024-09-19T01:40:47Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > You’ll forgive my lack of tears for the poow innocent widdle tewwowists. And everyone else who got hurt. And I doubt you’d have the same reaction if it was Israelis being bombed. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pagers-in-lebanon-2024-09-17/1007395/175 "2024-09-19T01:42:02Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > And I doubt you’d have the same reaction if it was Israelis being bombed. Correct. And you know what? I also didn’t cry when the Death Star got blown up. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pagers-in-lebanon-2024-09-17/1007395/176 "2024-09-19T01:44:06Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Correct. And you know what? I also didn’t cry when the Death Star got blown up. So you’d be happy if Israel nuked Lebanon? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pagers-in-lebanon-2024-09-17/1007395/177 "2024-09-19T01:45:12Z")
Yes, because clearly a nuclear first strike is _exactly_ like tricking terrorists into buying pagers that caused them a minor injury. 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pagers-in-lebanon-2024-09-17/1007395/178 "2024-09-19T01:47:05Z")
What are you talking about? There have been 20 dead and of the hundreds injured many of course are _life-changing_ injuries. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pagers-in-lebanon-2024-09-17/1007395/179 "2024-09-19T01:49:56Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > There have been 20 dead and of the hundreds injured many of course are _life-changing_ injuries. From this Washington Post article (gift link below): > [@](#): > > The deluge of patients at medical centers after Tuesday’s explosions was a chilling preview of what Lebanon could face during a war. Medical personnel performed 460 surgeries, including on people with injuries to their faces, eyes and fingers, and 300 people remained in critical condition, Abiad said Wednesday. Those killed Tuesday included an 8-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy. [https://wapo.st/3XMalnf](https://wapo.st/3XMalnf) ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pagers-in-lebanon-2024-09-17/1007395/180 "2024-09-19T01:51:07Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > There have been 20 dead and of the hundreds injured many of course are _life-changing_ injuries. Perhaps Hezbollah should have thought about that before they started launching missiles at soccer fields where children were playing. > **[Strike in Israeli-controlled Golan Heights kills at least 12 and threatens to...](https://apnews.com/article/lebanon-israel-hezbollah-golan-kfar-kila-141600af654f48f733b33f9f0a26dbfe)** > > A rocket strike at a soccer field in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights has killed at least 12 children and teens. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pagers-in-lebanon-2024-09-17/1007395.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exploding-pagers-in-lebanon-2024-09-17/1007395.md?page=10)