'Masterstroke By Israel': Army Chief Gen Dwivedi On Pagers, Walkie-Talkie Attacks Against Hezbollah In Lebanon

Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi said that the move by Israel to set up shell companies for manufacturing of explosives-laden communication devices was a masterstroke.

Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi spoke in pagers and walkie-talkie attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Source : PTI

Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi on Tuesday termed the move by Israel to set up shell companies to manufacture pagers and walkie-talkies planted with explosives as a "masterstroke". The explosives-laden communication devices were being used by Hezbollah members which exploded last month killing nearly 40 people including children and injuring over 3,000 people. 

The Iran-backed militant group had blamed Israel for the attack, though Israel neither confirmed nor denied the attacks. According to a New York Times report quoting three Israeli intelligence officers, the country's intelligence agency, Mossad had set up a shell company that manufactured the pagers, laced with a few grams of explosives before delivering them to Hezbollah.

Experts coined the term "supply chain attacks" for the move, implying infiltrating a supplier and placing a small amount of explosives inside devices.

"...The pager that you're talking about, it's a Taiwan company being supplied to a Hungarian company. Hungarian company thereafter gave it to them. The shell company which had been created is something which is a masterstroke by the Israelis," said the Army Chief speaking at the Chanakya Defence Dialogue. 

#WATCH | On Israel turned pagers into bombs and what India is doing to tackle such issues, Indian Army chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi says, "...The pager that you're talking about, it's a Taiwan company being supplied to a Hungarian company. Hungarian company thereafter giving it to… pic.twitter.com/O7KzqA1cD1

— ANI (@ANI) October 1, 2024

General Dwivedi also said that the move required years of preparation by Israel. "The war does not start the way you start fighting. It starts the day you start planning. And this is what is most important," he said. 

The Army Chief, however, noted that the supply chain interruption and interception is something India has to be "very watchful" of.

"We have to have various levels of inspection whether it is at the technological level as well as manual level to make sure such things do not get repeated in our case," he said.