Gold Apollo says a Budapest company made exploding pagers under its brand

Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said Wednesday that it authourised its brand on the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria a day earlier, but that another company based in Budapest manufactured them.

The AR-924 pagers used by the Hezbollah militants were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, based in Hungary’s capital, according to a statement released Wednesday by Gold Apollo .

"According to the cooperation agreement, we authorise BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC," the statement read.

Gold Apollo chair Hsu Ching-kuang told journalists Wednesday that his company has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years, but did not provide evidence of the contract.

The AR-924 pager, advertised as being "rugged," contains a rechargeable lithium battery, according to specifications once advertised on Gold Apollo’s website before it was apparently taken down Tuesday after the sabotage attack. It could receive text messages of up to 100 characters and claimed to have up to 85 days of battery life.

That’s something that would be crucial in Lebanon, where electricity outages have been common as the tiny nation on the Mediterranean Sea has faced years of economic collapse.

Pagers also run on a different wireless network than mobile phones, making them more resilient in emergencies — one of the reasons why many hospitals worldwide still rely on them.

Thousands of handheld pagers exploded almost simultaneously Tuesday across Lebanon and in parts of Syria, killing at least 12 people and wounding around 2,800 others, government and Hezbollah officials said.

Officials pointed the finger at Israel in what appeared to be a sophisticated remote attack. The Israeli military declined to comment.

Hezbollah began striking Israel almost immediately after the start of the Gaza war on October 7, in what it has called a "support front" for the Palestinians. Since then, Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire daily, coming close to a full-blown war on several occasions and forcing tens of thousands on both sides of the border to evacuate their homes.

Hezbollah has refused to lay down its arms before Israel's offensive in Gaza ends.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory in Israel's air and ground offensive since October 7. The ministry says a little over half of those killed were women and children.

Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

On Wednesday, the Israeli military said they intercepted a drone launched from Lebanon over the Mediterranean Sea near the coast of northern Israel. Another drone launched from Iraq was intercepted by Israeli air force fighter jets. There were no injuries or damage reported.