Ever since the original Mission Impossible television series, self-destructing spy messages have been the stuff of Hollywood fantasy. 

However, on Tuesday, an audacious operation targeting thousands of pagers across an entire country quickly brought that fantasy into reality and on a scale never before attempted.

The dust is still settling, but at present, at least nine people have been killed and 2,800 injured, some critically, in an attack on the communication infrastructure of the terrorist organization Hezbollah.

No one is claiming responsibility, but The New York Times is reporting that Israel is behind the attack. 

It’s still unknown exactly how the attack was carried out, with theories ranging from overheating batteries to a couple of ounces of explosives planted in the pagers used by Hezbollah to communicate with its members. 

“The fact that you had multiple events all occurring at the same time, it sounds to me like there were little explosive devices that were built into the equipment, that somebody was trying to light a lot of fires at once, and it had to be that somebody tapped into the manufacturing process,” Jerry Back, a fire investigation expert and Jensen Hughes senior engineer, told the New York Post.

Whoever is behind it, those affiliated with Hezbollah can no longer hide or deny their affiliation, having been permanently marked by the damage done by the explosions that simultaneously took place across Lebanon at 3:30 p.m. The pagers reportedly received what appeared to be an official message from Hezbollah leadership moments before the explosion. Scenes of the carnage from the explosions are all over social media. 

According to multiple news agencies, Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was reportedly injured in the attack, losing one of his eyes and experiencing an injury to the other. The obvious question is: what was the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon doing with a communication device used exclusively by the terrorist organization Hezbollah?  

In a case of karma, the terrorist organization has now been subjected to terror, as leaders and members fear what else in its possession has been compromised.

“That raises doubts in Hezbollah of what other supply chains [Israel has] penetrated, and to what effect,” said Jon Alterman, program director for the Center for Strategic Studies’ Middle East.

The Taiwanese company that makes the pagers, Gold Apollo, claims that another manufacturer made the devices and used its brand as part of a licensing deal. 

“The product was not ours. It was manufactured by a company in Europe. It’s just that our brand name was on it. We are the responsible company. It’s very embarrassing,” said Hsu Ching Kuang, founder of Gold Apollo.

The Wall Street Journal reports on the surprise attack against Hezbollah. Here’s the start of the story:

BEIRUT—Pagers carried by thousands of Hezbollah operatives exploded at about the same time Tuesday afternoon in what appeared to be an unprecedented attack that authorities said injured almost 2,800 and killed nine across Lebanon.

Many of the affected pagers were from a new shipment that the group received in recent days, people familiar with the matter said. A Hezbollah official said many fighters had such devices, adding that some people felt the pagers heat up and disposed of them before they burst.

Hezbollah said a number of pagers carried by its members exploded simultaneously at 3:30 p.m. local time. It couldn’t immediately be determined what caused the blasts, which were spread out across the country in several areas where Hezbollah has a heavy presence.

Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for the attack. Both said civilians were killed, and Hezbollah threatened to retaliate. The Israeli military declined to comment.

Iranian state television said the country’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was injured by his pager but was conscious and not in danger. Iran is the main supporter of Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist group that has grown into one of the world’s best-armed nonstate militias.