Israeli operation rocks Hezbollah, gives it more incentive to hit back

Global Affairs Correspondent LONDON There is no question that Israel scored a significant intelligence victory by apparently planting explosives into the communication devices used by members of Hezbollah, the Iranian-affiliated militant organisation based in Lebanon.

- Jonathan Eyal

LONDON There is no question that Israel scored a significant intelligence victory by apparently planting explosives into the communication devices used by members of Hezbollah, the Iranian-affiliated militant organisation based in Lebanon.

According to the latest tallies compiled by the Lebanese authorities, at least 15 people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded, including the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, across two waves of explosions via pagers on Sept 17 and via hand-held radios on Sept 18 in Hezbollah strongholds across the country.

This audacious operation confirms Israel's intelligence and technological superiority over all its regional enemies.

Yet, despite its sophistication, the Israeli attack provides no coherent answer to the Jewish state's long-term security needs.

Hezbollah has suffered a severe blow. But this will only increase the organisation's determination to get back at Israel, with incalculable risks for the Middle East.

Israel's security services have always designed their operations with an eye to the spectacular, and their latest strike in Lebanon is certainly among their most audacious.

It was undoubtedly many months - if not years - in the making, and it blended accurate intelligence with ingenuity and technical innovation.

For years, the Israelis knew that one of their opponents' key strategies was to avoid using the latest military technologies and rely instead on older means of communication, which are less vulnerable to interception.

For instance, the top leadership of Hamas in the Gaza Strip currently communicates with its field commanders through coded text handwritten on paper and passed around by couriers.

The method is primitive different from what was used on battlefields for thousands of years no but still effective; Israel has searched high and low in Gaza for Yahya Sinwar, the top commander of the Palestinian militant organisation, but has yet to locate him.