Paging Danger: Exploding Pagers in Lebanon
An anxious and uneasy cloud hangs in Beirut after a series of explosions rocked Lebanon and portions of Syria. The explosions were carried out through the use of pagers and walkie-talkies that were in possession of Hezbollah fighters and militants. The exploding devices have left multiple people dead and thousands injured. Many Hezbollah members in possession of an exploding device were left maimed and blind.
Hezbollah holds significant influence in Lebanon as a political party and militant group and violently opposes Israel and all Western powers operating in the Middle East. Hezbollah essentially functions as a proxy for Iran, their largest benefactor. US policymakers see Hezbollah as a global terrorist threat.
Israel has not publicly stated that they were responsible for these attacks; however, reports from Washington indicate Israel as the perpetrator. Israel is encircled by hostile and potentially hostile nations with superior resources and larger populations. Israel also faces multiple terrorist organizations within their defined borders, primarily Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Israel also has to contend with Iran-backed Hezbollah in the North.
Israeli military-strategic culture sees the acquisition of weapons more sophisticated than those of the enemy as the key counterbalance to the state's insecurity and the numerical superiority of Israel’s adversaries. Thus, Israel’s investment in state-of-the-art technology has become paramount to its strategy of victory. Israel is the only country in the region with both the motive and technological ability to carry out such a sophisticated attack.
It is important to note that this attack is not an isolated event, but rather a continuation of the Israel-Hamas war that began almost a year ago on October 7th with Hamas’s deadly and vile terrorist attacks in the south of Israel. For nearly a year, Hezbollah has been targeting sites in the north of Israel in support of their ally, Hamas. Notably, one of Hezbollah’s more deadly attacks left twelve children dead in the town of Madjdal Shams in Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. Israel responded to this attack by bombing and assassinating top Hezbollah leader, Fuad Shukr "Sayyid Muhsan, in Beirut.
The attacks in Lebanon were most likely the result of a supply chain interference, presumably in which members of the Israeli Mossad (Israel’s version of the CIA) tampered with the internal components of pagers destined for Hezbollah insurgents. An attack of this scale and precision would've been planned months or years in advance and required the accumulation of vast intelligence. These attacks have sewn fear in Lebanon as Hezbollah wonders to what extent Israel has infiltrated their supply chain.
Israel has, in many ways, used fear and randomness to their advantage. The strategy of terrorist groups like Hamas and Hezbollah has typically been to rely on incidents of random brutality and shock to promote a violent response from Israel that confirms preexisting options and fears about Israel. Strangely, this attack by Israel, while highly sophisticated, mirrors strategies often employed by guerilla fighters. Israel is essentially using the guerilla strategy of shock and randomness against Hezbollah as a way to sew chaos, fear, and disorganization amongst the already disjointed cells of Hezbollah.
Unfortunately, the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas shows no signs of slowing, and more innocent blood will be spilled before the conclusion of this brutal war. Following the pager attacks, Hezbollah has vowed to take revenge and refuses to back down in support of Hamas. This risks a more all-out war between Hezbollah and Israel.