Former Mossad agents have described how Israeli spies spent 10 years on an operation to hide bombs in walkie-talkies and pagers before detonating them earlier this year.

The duo, going by the names Michael and Gabriel, said the attacks in Lebanon had sent a message to Israel’s enemies not to “mess with us”.

They revealed the details in an interview with CBS News, which the two men gave while dressed in ski masks and sunglasses to hide their identities.

The pair said Israel sold Hezbollah some 16,000 of the exploding devices over the years for a “good price”.

Gabriel said because walkie-talkies are mainly worn in battle, his team began developing exploding pagers as well.