The Taiwanese manufacturer linked to pagers that exploded in a deadly attack across Lebanon on Tuesday has denied making the devices, stating they were produced by a European company licensed to use its brand.
At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 injured when thousands of pagers detonated simultaneously across Lebanon in an unprecedented attack. Hezbollah, the militant group targeted in the blasts, accused Israel and promised retaliation.
Gold Apollo, the Taiwanese company whose name appeared on images of the exploded pagers, said on Wednesday the products were not theirs. “The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it,” founder Hsu Ching-Kuang told reporters in New Taipei City.
The attack hit Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs, and the eastern Bekaa Valley. Lebanon’s Health Minister Firass Abiad reported that a young girl was among the dead and over 200 people suffered critical injuries.
Hezbollah said it was conducting a “security and scientific investigation” into the blasts. The group had reportedly adopted low-tech pagers to avoid targeted assassinations of members traceable by mobile phone signals.
Israel has not directly commented on the explosions. The Israeli military said senior commanders held an assessment “focusing on readiness in both offence and defence in all arenas”.
The incident has heightened tensions in the region, already strained by the ongoing conflict in Gaza. U.S. officials are working to de-escalate the situation, with concerns about a potential Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said it was “too early to say” how the attack might affect Gaza ceasefire talks, adding that the U.S. was not involved and did not know who was responsible.
