An electronics manufacturer in Taiwan has denied making the pagers used by members of Hezbollah that exploded in Lebanon, killing at least nine people and injuring over 2,750. Hezbollah has blamed Israel for the blasts, while Israel has not commented directly. Images of the destroyed pagers showed stickers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo, which stated that another company, BAC in Hungary, was licensed to use its brand for product sales in certain regions. The Ministry of Economic Affairs in Taiwan confirmed that Gold Apollo primarily exported pagers to European and American markets and had no records of exporting directly to Lebanon. The explosions have raised concerns about escalating tensions between Israel and Lebanon, with Lebanon’s foreign ministry condemning what it called an “Israeli cyber attack” and planning to lodge a complaint with the U.N. Security Council. The U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon called the explosions an “extremely concerning escalation,” while the U.S. stated that they were not aware of the incident in advance and not involved in it. Pagers are favored by Hezbollah members due to concerns about being tracked through cellphones. Hezbollah is conducting an investigation into the explosions and has vowed severe consequences for the attackers. The founder of Gold Apollo expressed feeling victimized and mentioned considering filing a lawsuit, stating, “How did I get involved in this attack?”
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