The massive and simultaneous explosions shocked the Lebanese for the second day in a row. While on Tuesday afternoon, some 5,000 pagers sounded on the communication networks of the Islamist militia Hezbollah, on Wednesday, at about the same time, it was the radios, walkie talkiessolar panels, cell phones: all sorts of everyday gadgets equipped with all sorts of rudimentary technology.
Tuesday’s coordinated attack left 12 dead and nearly 3,000 injured, many with amputations and serious injuries. The latter were shorter-range but more deadly: at least 20 people were killed and 450 injured, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health.
Many doubts remain in the air, once It is assumed that the Israelis are behind the operationsdespite his silence.
We know that the Lebanese militia and their collaborators used pagers to communicate because they are very poor technology, more elusive and difficult to intercept than modern telephones. We know that the explosives had been in their homes and pockets for at least five months, without their weight giving them any idea: the charges were around 20 grams. It is not known, however, whether the devices were handled in the factory or by an intermediary, or whether the initial order was intercepted somewhere along the way and the charge was replaced with identical but explosive versions.
Nor do we know how the Israelis managed, if they were the Israelis, to trigger the detonations remotely and with such astonishing efficiency. There is no precedent in history for such a technologically sophisticated operation. “The main thing is the number of elements involved,” says Yago Rodríguez, a military analyst and author of For a plot of land. “This is proof that cyber can have physical effects, this is the real militarization of the cyber world.”
bWow part of the world has accepted, with the creation of the Internet, than more familiar devices, such as personal computers or mobile phones, They are a very useful tool in cases of data theft or mass espionage. Israel has entered a new era this week. Now, much of the world knows that a radio or pager can also be a weapon suitable for selective assassinations. and itThe Israelis are convinced that the psychological impact of this revelation will be sufficiently telling to stop any attempt by Hezbollah to embarrass them.
The next step
Hezbollah is the best-armed and best-educated Iranian tentacle in the Middle East. But in recent days it has shown that it suffers from the same security problems than his superiors in Tehran. One gets the feeling that nothing that happens between the Iranians and their allies is a secret to the Mossad. Analysts sense that the level of penetration of Israeli intelligence into enemy ranks is very deep, and many sense their traces in the president’s fatal accident. Ebrahim Raisi in May or the subsequent assassination of Hamas’ political leader, Ismail Haniyahduring his official visit to Iran.
dAfter eleven months of bombing and hand-to-hand fighting with Hamas in Gaza, after suffering the worst attack in its history, the prime minister Netanyahu announced that Israel’s next “target” would be in the north of the country, south of Lebanon. In this region, Hezbollah attacks are constant and have forced some 600,000 citizens to move for security reasons. Anti-aircraft defenses did not prevent in July, for example, Hezbollah killed 12 children playing football in a village in the Golan Heights.
Now, Netanyahu says, it is time to the displaced come home, foryes thathas The most frequently asked question in political circles is how you plan to achieve this.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the Prime Minister was in favour of an incursion military on landbut some members of his team and of American diplomacy is trying to dissuade him from doing so for fear of a wider war. Professor Alberto Priego, a doctor in international relations at Comillas University, understands that the 48 hours of horror against Hezbollah are a way to “avoid or delay” the opening of this facade.
Historian and political analyst Yoel Schvartz offers another possibility. “It is likely,” he says, “that intelligence forces were aware of the imminence of a stronger attack and wanted to send a warning: our capability is not just fire, it can strike strategic locations.”
The mass funeral, full of Hezbollah symbols, of Abbas Fadel Yassin in Beirut.
Reuters
Schvartz does not know what to expect now, “the attack had a first phase and surprised us with the second, maybe it will have a third and a fourth.” “Israel has shown that it can reach the heart of Hezbollah”continue. “Hezbollah’s leaders must worry about preventing the next coup, and these attacks prevent them from thinking about long-term action.” “On the other hand,” he concludes, “they leave Israel in a better position if it decides to act more forcefully.”
Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallahappear in public this afternoon. Last Tuesday, his organization promised “just punishment” for the Jewish state. There has been another massive attack on his people, however. The anticipation is enormous. The world will listen carefully to see if his words are a prelude to a more dangerous war or if they are instead a retreat from a militia overwhelmed by its vulnerability.
