Possible to trigger at battery explosions in pagers ?

[globoy]

The NYT (also probably paywalled) is reporting they were Gold Apollo AP924 (among other) pagers and Israel added explosives and a trigger next to the battery.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/17/world/middleeast/israel-hezbollah-pagers-explosives.html

For me anyway, the Gold Apollo website is unresponsive but I think it looks something like the following image.

[coppercone2]

I think its safe to say that you can't pin this one on a lithium ion battery, so there is no need to throw away you iphones

[shabaz]

Unfortunately this article is behind a paywall.

What usually works for FT, is to google the article title with 'ft twitter' appended to it, then click on the twitter/X result, and then it opens that FT page article without their paywall.

For instance, googling for that article, leads to this twitter URL: https://twitter.com/ftworldnews/status/1836109408788517296
and by clicking on the link in there, will open the article (at least it does for me).

[Bud]

So what does the Taiwanese manufacturer say?

[coppercone2]

So what does the Taiwanese manufacturer say?

there was a small defect in one of the subassemblies

realistically they have nothing to do with it. I doubt they just sold it to that group. It probobly went through a complex resale chain. They have nothing to do with it. I have a feeling everything that ends up there is super laundered.

[MT]

https://www.ft.com/content/dbaac693-2fd2-41bc-b5e7-6c2c7dd92277

Unfortunately this article is behind a paywall.

and its full of garbage narratives.

[Andy Chee]

So what does the Taiwanese manufacturer say?

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/gold-apollo-says-it-did-not-make-pagers-used-lebanon-explosion-2024-09-18/

"The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it,' Gold Apollo founder and president, Hsu Ching-Kuang, told reporters at the company's offices in the northern Taiwanese city of New Taipei on Wednesday.
The company said in a statement that the AR-924 model was produced and sold by BAC.
"We only provide brand trademark authorization and have no involvement in the design or manufacturing of this product," the statement said.

[Geoff-AU]

I think its safe to say that you can't pin this one on a lithium ion battery, so there is no need to throw away you iphones

I think if anyone suspects it could be caused by a lithium ion battery, that throwing away their phone is encouraged.  It might improve the signal to noise ratio for the rest of us.

[Andy Chee]

One might assume that this supply chain attack was performed somewhere towards the end of the chain, near the end users Hezbollah.

However if the attack was performed earlier in the supply chain, then conceivably there could be other explosive laden pagers circulating out in the wild, yet to be triggered because they were not within broadcast range.

It seems prudent that the manufacturer issue a recall notice for their pagers, at least until Israel/Mossad admits liability, and informs the manufacturer at which point in the supply chain was penetrated.

[bobxyz]

If I were going to do this, I'd intercept the wire(s) going to the display and add a micro that would detect a specific pager message and trigger an explosive.  The original battery could be replaced with half battery and half explosive + detonator + micro.  It wouldn't be selective, but if the original pagers were diverted, they could figure out the end phone numbers based on the pager IDs.

[Andy Chee]

I think its safe to say that you can't pin this one on a lithium ion battery, so there is no need to throw away you iphones

There has yet to be confirmation of explosive residue on the pager debris, so can't completely eliminate an intentional lithium battery explosion yet.

Can lithium battery casing be manufactured without safety venting?