Hungarian Firm Made Pagers Used by Israel in Lebanon Explosions: Taiwanese Brand
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – after at least eleven people were killed and thousands wounded in explosions caused by pagers in Lebanon and Syria, the Taiwanese brand holder claimed that a Hungarian company is the manufacturer.
The Taiwanese company, Gold Apollo, confirmed on Wednesday that pagers which exploded in Lebanon and Syria, killing at least eleven and injuring thousands, were manufactured by the Hungarian firm BAC Consulting KFT.
Gold Apollo stated that while they authorized BAC to use their brand for sales, the design and production were solely BAC’s responsibility.
"According to the cooperation agreement, we authorize BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC," Gold Apollo told reporters, according to Euronews.
The company’s chair, Hsu Ching-Kuang, confirmed the licensing agreement had been in place for three years but provided no contract evidence.
The pagers exploded nearly simultaneously on Tuesday, killing eleven, including an eight-year-old girl, and injuring nearly 3,000 people, according to Lebanon’s Health Minister Firass Abiad.
Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for a remote attack, but Israel declined to comment, and the US denied involvement.
Experts suggest explosives were inserted into the pagers before delivery, with social media images showing victims with severe injuries.
Gold Apollo’s AR-924 pager, advertised as being "rugged", contains a rechargeable lithium battery, according to specifications once advertised on Gold Apollo's website before it was apparently taken down on Tuesday after the sabotage attack. It could receive texts of up to 100 characters.
It also claimed to have up to 85 days of battery life. Pagers also run on a different wireless network than mobile phones, making them more resilient in emergencies — one of the reasons why many hospitals worldwide still rely on them.
Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs said from the beginning of 2022 until August 2024, Gold Apollo has exported 260,000 sets of pagers, including more than 40,000 sets between January and August of this year. The ministry said the pagers were exported mainly to European and American countries.
The incident occurred amid rising tensions between Lebanon and Israel, exacerbated by ongoing genocidal military campaign by the Israeli regime in the Gaza where the enclave’s Health Ministry reports that over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since October.
