Many questions surrounding the simultaneous explosions of hundreds of beepers used by Hezbollah remain unanswered. On Wednesday, September 18, the Taiwanese group Gold Apollo, whose brand name appears on the devices that exploded in Lebanon, killing 12 people and injuring at least 2,750, rejected any responsibility for their manufacture on its Hungarian partner BAC, which itself claims to be only an intermediary.
“Under a cooperation agreement, we allow BAC to use our brand for the sale of products in certain regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are the sole responsibility of BAC,” Gold Apollo said in a statement. The CEO of the Hungarian company, Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono, interviewed by the American channel NBCconfirmed working with Gold Apollo but denied being involved in manufacturing. “I don’t make the pagers. I’m just a middleman. You’re mistaken,” she said by phone.
Founded in 2022, BAC Consulting is registered in Budapest, in a two-story building on the outskirts of the Hungarian capital owned by a company that provides registered addresses, according to a woman present at the premises on Wednesday morning. Cristiana Barsony-Arcidiacono appears to be the only employee, according to legal documents consulted by AFP, which also state an annual turnover of 210 million forints (530,000 euros) for profits of around 45,000 euros. On its website, now inaccessible but of which AFP was able to consult an archived version, BAC says it “works internationally as an agent of change with a network of consultants”. The CEO presents herself as a “strategic advisor for international organizations”.
The Hungarian company is “a commercial intermediary, without a production or operational site in Hungary,” Budapest confirmed on Wednesday. “The devices in question have never been on Hungarian soil,” government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs added on the social network X, and “this case does not pose any risk to national security.”
Investigation in Taiwan
The Taiwanese group denied information from the American daily. New York Timesaccording to which he himself had manufactured and sold the beepers, model AR924, to Hezbollah. “Our company only provides authorization to use the brand and is not involved in their design and manufacture,” he insisted. “These are not our products […] “from start to finish,” company director Hsu Ching-kuang told reporters in Taipei earlier Wednesday.
Taiwan’s prosecutors announced that they are investigating the case. “We have handed over the case to the prosecutor general of the national security team […]”We will clarify the facts as soon as possible and if we find any illegal acts, they will be severely punished in accordance with the law,” according to a statement.
Citing American and other officials, the New York Times claimed that Israeli intelligence managed to intercept the pagers before they arrived in Lebanon and to hide small quantities of explosives and a detonator next to the battery. Also according to the New York Timesa message appearing to come from Hezbollah leadership caused the device to beep for several seconds Tuesday before triggering the explosive.
The information from the American daily supports the theory, put forward Tuesday by several experts, according to which the Israeli services managed to infiltrate the Hezbollah logistics chain to plan this attack.
Since the beginning of this conflict in the Gaza Strip, triggered by an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023, Hezbollah and the Israeli army have exchanged fire almost daily on the Israeli-Lebanese border. The simultaneous explosion on Tuesday across Lebanon of pagers used by the pro-Iranian Islamist movement Hezbollah left twelve dead and at least 2,750 injured, according to the Ministry of Health, an unprecedented event.