What the operation to blow up Hezbollah’s pagers tells us about Israel’s spy agencies
The mass explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies believed to belong to members of the Iran-backed Shiite group Hezbollah in Lebanon have widely been attributed to Israel’s intelligence services. The attacks, which killed dozens of people and wounded thousands more, speak volumes about the technical capacities of Israel’s spy services – and their role in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
The deadly sabotage operations targeting pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon earlier this week have been called many things. But while the attacks have been condemned by many people as “morally questionable” and “legally dubious”, others have hailed them as “technically impressive” and fiendishly “effective”.
Whatever your opinion on the explosions that targeted thousands of people believed to be members of Hezbollah, killing dozens of people – including at least two children – and wounding thousands more, the attacks have placed Israel’s shadowy spy services squarely back in the spotlight.
Making up for the failures of October 7
“This attack on Lebanon with the pagers and the walkie-talkies is kind of a way of rehabilitating their reputation,” she said. “It’s a show of strength, essentially.”
But the details of the organisation and execution of Israel’s plan are still fuzzy, and what little information we have is evolving rapidly.
Read more on FRANCE 24 English
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