LOS ANGELES.–Killing nine and injuring 2,700, Israel detonated Hezbollah-owned pagers, literally blowing up in people’s faces, hands and hips, where most pagers are carried. After nearly a year of war in Gaza with Hamas, Israel has faced since the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre killing over 1,200, taking 251 more hostages, an ongoing rocket bombardment from Hezbollah, another Iran-backed terrorist group based in Lebanon. Hezbollah thought it could continue its rocket war with Israel with impunity, saying the war would go on until Israel ended its war in Gaza. Israel’s war in Gaza was targeted at Hamas terrorists, led by Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar, now appointed since the death of 64-year-old Hamas-leader-in-exile’s death in Tehran, Ismail Haniyeh. Haniyeh was killed by a remotely detonated Israel bomb at his condominium in Tehran July 31, most likely planned by Israel’s Mossad Security Service.
Mossad is out to redeem itself for its colossal failure on Oct. 7, letting Hamas terrorists infiltrate Israel creating such mayhem. Yesterday and today’s detonations of pagers and walkie-talkies, both used to elude Mossad’s electronic cell phone surveillance. Today’s new explosions of walkie-talkies show that there’s no limit to Mossad’s reach, killing 20 and injuring another 450 Hezbollah militants. Yesterday’s detonation of thousands of what looked like Taiwanese-made pagers indicated that Israel has ratcheted up its war with Hezbollah after 11 months of rocket attacks. Hezbollah, on orders of 64-year-old Supreme Leader Hassan Nasrallah, ordered 5,000 AP924 Gold Apollo pagers six months ago from a Taiwan-based company. “The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it,” said Gold Apollo Founder Hsu Ching-Kuang, claiming the pagers were made in Europe.
Ching-Kuang said the AP924 models were made by a European outfit based in Budapest, Hungary but did not come directly from the Taiwan-based Gold Apollo factory. No one knows yet how Mossad got its hands on the pagers somewhere in the supply chain to plant explosive charges in the AP924 circuitry to eventually get detonated on Mossad’s command. Mossad apparently planted a remote-controlled printed circuit board inside all the pagers and walkie-talkies. Yesterday’s infiltration by Mossad of Hezbollah was its worst security breach in years, though on July 31 Hezbollah Commander Fuad Shukr was killed in a precision bomb strike and Palestinian leader-exile Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran by a remote controlled bomb. U.N. Officials questioned the legality of remotely controlled strikes using electronic devices on Hezbollah.
Hezbollah’s Nasrallah has been threatening Israel with a war of annihilation if they don’t stop its war with Hamas. Israel last fought a bloody 32-day war in Lebanon in 2006, essentially leaving Nasralllah in place to control his Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia. Iran wanted to create a two-front war with Israel to force Netanyahu to back off his Hamas campaign in Gaza. Now that things are winding down in Gaza, Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have focused their attention more to Hezbollah in Lebanon. “The center of gravity is shifting to the north by diverting resources and forces,” Gallant said, showing that Israel was turning its attention to Hezbollah. Hezbollah brought war on itself by firing rockets into Israel since the Gaza War began Oct. 7, 2023. Nasrallah has been pushing for war with Israel daily before the surprise pager and walkie-talkie explosions.
Whatever guerrilla warfare Hezbollah faces with Israel, Nasrallah could stop bombing Israel to spare Lebanon the complete destruction that a all-out war brings. Beirut is one of the most poverty stricken capitals in the Mideast, still recovering from the 2006 war that destroyed much of its infrastructure. While Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits Cairo to revise an already dead ceasefire plan, he would be well advised to travel to Beirut to stop what looks like an escalating situation in Lebanon. Lebanon officials, including Hamas members in parliament, said Israel would be punished for the exploding pager and walkie-talkie incident. But unless Nasrallah decides to stop firing rockets into Israel, Israel clearly shows it has the upper hand with Hamas and Hezbollah. Netanyahu wants to return Israel settlers to their homes in northern Israel, something not possible with all the rocket attacks.
Israel’s Mossad Intelligence Service has recovered some of its credibility lost on its colossal Oct. 7 failure. Mossad’s detonating of Hezbollah’s pagers and walkie-talkies should let Nasrallah know that he could be next if he doesn’t stop his belligerent rocket attacks in northern Israel. “The Security Cabinet has updated objectives of the war to include the following: Returning the residents of the north securely in their homes,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement. For that to happen, Nasrallah would have to stop his daily rocket barrages in northern Israel, something that hasn’t happened yet. If Nasrallah doesn’t want to wind up like Haniyeh, he needs to stop attacking Israel on Iran’s commands. War with Israel threatens what’s left of Beirut by pushing the battle into densely packed Beirut neighborhoods. De-escalation would benefit all sides before it’s too late.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
