Explosions Rock Lebanon Israel’s Covert Operations Unveiled

A New Wave of Attacks Targets Hezbollah Amid Ongoing Tensions

On Tuesday, a series of explosions across Lebanon claimed multiple lives and injured thousands. Reports indicate that these blasts resulted from a coordinated operation involving Israel’s intelligence service, Mossad, and the Israeli military. Just a day later, another wave of explosions was triggered by detonating walkie-talkies in different locations.

These attacks are believed to be aimed at Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group, and are part of a broader pattern of covert actions that Israel has historically undertaken but rarely acknowledges.

Israel’s practice of using explosives in communication devices dates back to the aftermath of the 1972 Munich massacre, when 11 Israeli athletes were killed. In response, Israel launched “Operation Wrath of God,” a years-long campaign to track down those responsible. Notably, Mahmoud Hamshari, a representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), was targeted when a bomb was planted in his phone, detonated during a call.

The recent incidents evoke memories of the 1996 assassination of Yahya Ayyash, Hamas’ chief bombmaker. Ayyash was killed when a cellphone rigged with explosives detonated near him, leading to a series of retaliatory bombings that resulted in numerous Israeli deaths.

Since 2010, several Iranian nuclear scientists have been assassinated in operations linked to Israel, as the country seeks to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The sophisticated cyberattack known as Stuxnet, which targeted Iranian centrifuges, is another example of Israel’s strategy to impede its adversaries through both physical and cyber means.

In 2020, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iran’s chief nuclear scientist, was killed by a remote-controlled machine gun using facial recognition technology. This incident further demonstrated Israel’s commitment to targeting perceived threats, although the country neither confirmed nor denied its involvement.

While some speculate that the recent explosions could be due to a cybersecurity breach causing lithium batteries in pagers to detonate, experts suggest a more intricate operation. David Kennedy, a former NSA analyst, indicated that the scale of the explosions suggests involvement of human operatives within Hezbollah who could have tampered with the devices.

According to reports, explosives may have been concealed within pagers sourced from a Taiwanese manufacturer, with a remote detonating switch embedded. This suggests a high level of planning and intelligence-gathering.

As tensions continue to escalate, the recent attacks highlight the lengths to which Israel will go to target its enemies. While the details remain murky, the implications are clear: the region is caught in a cycle of violence driven by covert operations and a complex web of geopolitical rivalries.