Israel Accelerates Detonation of Hezbollah Pagers Over Leak Fears: ‘The Last Chance’ Strategy

Israel Accelerates Detonation of Hezbollah Pagers Over Leak Fears: ‘The Last Chance’ Strategy

Israeli officials detonated thousands of Hezbollah pagers in Lebanon on Tuesday without warning out of concern that the organization supported by Iran may have discovered their scheme.

According to reports, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave his approval for this preventive measure, which was motivated by intelligence indicating that Hezbollah may have discovered bombs concealed within the devices.

Before the pagers were transported from Taiwanese manufacturer Gold Apollo to Lebanon, they were modified with explosives between the battery and a remote activation switch (AR-924 type, particularly).

Hezbollah-used walkie-talkie radios were the source of a second round of explosives on Wednesday after the first one. Fears that Hezbollah operatives could give up on their devices following the initial attack led to this escalation.

A Strategic Blow to Hezbollah

Hezbollah’s communications network has been severely hampered by Israel’s efforts, according to CNN intelligence analyst Bob Baer, possibly paving the way for a larger military offensive in Lebanon.

Israel now has a tactical edge in the current fight because Hezbollah’s ability to coordinate operations has been seriously hindered by the attacks.

After a period of focusing on Gaza, Baer warned that Israel would now turn its attention northward, calling the rupture in Hezbollah’s supply and communication network a “great defeat” for the group.

The Shift in Hezbollah’s Communications

According to reports, Hezbollah switched to pagers earlier this year because they were worried that Israeli surveillance and assaults could occur on their cell phones.

Unfortunately, since the pagers were compromised, this action proved to be disastrous. While fewer devices were destroyed on Wednesday compared to Tuesday, veteran Israeli investigative reporter Ronen Bergman pointed out that the larger devices targeted on the second day were packed with more explosives, meaning that the blasts produced were more potent. The idea was to highlight how vulnerable Hezbollah’s military communications network as a whole is.

Hezbollah’s Response

The attacks have been denounced by Hezbollah and the Lebanese government as “criminal Israeli aggression.” Hashim Safi Al Din, a top member in Hezbollah, has warned of “uniquely bloody revenge” for what he called a deceitful attack on their agents, and the group has threatened to take revenge.

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Israeli military personnel and Mossad may have been involved in the operation, according to numerous reports and US officials, even though Israel has not formally claimed responsibility for the strikes. Concerns over additional escalation of hostilities in the West Asia region are raised by analysts who see this occurrence as an unusual level of infiltration into Hezbollah’s communications network.