'Israel planted explosives in pagers sold to Hezbollah'

NEW YORK-Israel carried out its operation against Hezbollah on Sept.17 by hiding explosive material within a new batch of Taiwanese-made pagers imported into Lebanon, according to American and other officials briefed on the operation.

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The pagers, which Hezbollah had ordered from Gold Apollo in Taiwan, had been tampered with before they reached Lebanon, according to some of the officials.

Most were the company's AP924 model, though three other Gold Apollo models were included in the shipment.

However, Taiwan's Gold Apollo said it did not make the pagers that were used in the detonations, Reuters reported.