Israel moves troops north as Lebanon says 20 killed by exploding walkie-talkies - BBC News
By: BBCWorld (BBC News)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
'It's extraordinary' - analysts describe unprecedented attackpublished at 18:07 British Summer Time 17 September18:07 BST 17 September
Frances Mao
Live reporter
I've been speaking to several Middle East security analysts who say the nature and scale of the attack on Hezbollah appears unprecedented.
"It's extraordinary. Hezbollah prides itself on its strict security measures, honed over decades of going head to head with Israel," Emily Harding, a former senior CIA analyst who was also the Iran director at the National Security Council tells me.
She and others say this is a critical breach of Hezbollah's security.
"A breach of this magnitude is not only physically harmful, but will also make them question their entire security apparatus," says Harding, currently a deputy director at the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank.
"I would expect to see them conduct an intensive internal investigation that will distract them from a potential fight with Israel."
Lina Khatib, from the UK-based Chatham House, says the attack "underlines how deeply Israel has infiltrated Hezbollah's communications network".
"Many Hezbollah operatives switched to using pagers after mobile phones belonging to Hezbollah members were compromised by Israeli hacking.
"The scale of the latest attack is deeply humiliating for Hezbollah, showing how vulnerable Hezbollah's security is in the face of sophisticated Israeli military technology," she adds.
Tags
Who is online
267 visitors
While their communication systems are down, Israel should attack as many Hezbollah targets as possible. Take advantage of the organizational chaos.
Some analysts believe that Israel's attacks on Hezbollah's communication systems may be a prelude to a larger military effort by Israel against Hezbollah. Since the October 7th Hamas attack, Hezbollah has fired over 7,500 rockets at Israel, requiring the evactuation of a large area in northern Israeli. That has created an intolerable situation for the Israelis. The greatest danger Israel faces with a possible broader military clash with Hezbollah is that Hezbollah is armed with up to 150,000 or more warheads, which, if launched against Israel, would have a devastating effect. The Israeli response to a massive attack by Hezbollah would likely destroy most of Lebanon. It's a dangerous situation.
Now is a good time for Israel to really go after them; they'll have a hard time communicating, their hospitals are full, and they appear to be totally confused and demoralized.
These events must be devastating to the supporters and sympathizers of Hamas and Hezbollah
If Israel did it, then BRAVO!!! I would have named the concept "Operation Trojan Horse".