The Mossad and Netanyahu's blow

That Shi'ite militias in Lebanon, and even in Syria, Iraq and Iran itself, were using them was at the behest of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other ayatollahs who were convinced that Israel was well tapped into mobile phone communications. 

The simplicity of the old ‘pagers’ and walkie-talkies made them immune to technological sophistication. By now everyone will have been convinced that the Mossad, which is credited with the thorough preparation and simultaneous targeting of the holders of such devices, has no disdain for any means of monitoring and eliminating its enemies.

Although the death toll is not very high - about twenty, according to Hezbollah leaders - the number of wounded is in the thousands, many of them in critical condition and with serious amputations. The Mossad has thus unleashed not only saturation and chaos in the collapsed Lebanese health system, but also panic in the ranks of Hezbollah and the other terrorist groups that threaten Israel. So much so that hundreds or thousands are hastily disposing of their electronic devices in fear that the wave of such unusual attacks has not yet ceased. 

The Mossad and Israel, which everyone points to as the author of the operation, is responding with absolute silence, but there is no doubt that the highly prestigious Israeli intelligence service has, with this operation, considerably increased its reputation as a relentless pursuer of any target that is pointed out to it, with no corner of the world where it can hide or take cover. 

Any terrorist who dares to attack Israeli citizens or the very existence of the country knows what he risks. 

Informal US government sources say that the White House was informed in advance of the operation, although they do not say whether the Israeli government provided details of what it would actually unleash. Among the most obvious consequences of this massive attack on Lebanese militiamen, the most worrying is the impression conveyed by Benjamin Netanyahu that he wants to extend the war to the entire region. 

For the past two weeks, Netanyahu's entourage had been leaking the Israeli Prime Minister's alleged intention to replace his Defence Minister, Yoav Galant, due to disagreements over the line to be taken in Gaza. 

According to this account, Galant would enjoy American sympathy in his position to reach a ceasefire agreement, which would facilitate the return home of the more than 100 hostages, dead or alive, who are still in Hamas' hands. 

However, in relation to Israel's war against Hezbollah, the minister himself announced that the conflict was entering a new phase, fuelling suspicions that the Mossad's intelligence operation could foreshadow new and massive conventional attacks, once the path of many of the militiamen who have been put out of action has been cleared. That, moreover, both Galant and Netanyahu announced that the 60,000 Israeli citizens living near the border with southern Lebanon could return and resettle in their homes is tantamount to assuring them that they need no longer fear Hezbollah's harassment by the incessant rain of its drones and missiles. 

The Lebanese militia, and by extension their Iranian protectors, announce that this brutal and humiliating blow ‘will not go unpunished’. At this stage, the revenge action announced by Hamas and Iran for the death of their political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, has yet to take place. The fact that both sides want to keep attacks and counterattacks within the local framework, an effort that President Joe Biden is also engaged in, does not mean that Netanyahu is aligned with this group. Of course, he does not say so openly, but his preferences for the occupant of the White House lie with Donald Trump. The Republican candidate is constantly attacking Democrat Kamala Harris, whom he would hold responsible, should she win the election on 5 November, for ‘the disappearance of the State of Israel in just two years’. 

For the moment, the wave of attacks on 17 and 18 September has infused Mossad agents with a significant dose of morale, but it has also boosted Netanyahu, who is constantly being blamed by the families of hostages held by Hamas for their suffering. The slap in the face that Hamas dealt Israel and its security services on 7 October 2023 will not be erased by this highly sophisticated intelligence operation in Lebanon, but it will undoubtedly restore, at least in part, Israel's proven deterrence capability.