In a week of military setbacks, devastating intelligence breaches, and communications disruptions, Hezbollah is back on its heels. Exploding pagers, detonating walkie-talkies, and now precision air strikes on key Hezbollah leadership and subordinate staff are designed to keep the terrorist organization off balance and unable to regroup. The Israel Defense Force (IDF) is bent on reducing the threat to its citizens in the North so they can return to their homes.
Israel Keeps the Pressure on Hezbollah
If Iran’s lackey, Hezbollah, thought the deadly surprise pager messages were a one-and-done operation on Israel’s part to make a point, they were fatally mistaken. The next day, according to the Associated Press:
“Walkie-talkies exploded in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon on Wednesday [Sep. 18] in a second wave of attacks targeting devices a day after pagers used by Hezbollah blew up, state media and officials for the militant group said. At least 20 people were killed and more than 450 wounded in the second wave, the Health Ministry said. Speaking to Israeli troops … Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, ‘We are at the start of a new phase in the war — it requires courage, determination and perseverance.’”
Having experienced an effective and devastating uniquely personal attack on Hezbollah terrorists using electronic devices, a savvy person might surmise that Hezbollah terrorists would be a little suspicious of any hand-held communication equipment now. Look inside, maybe. Not so, apparently. More importantly, what it does demonstrate is that the Mossad and Israel Defense Force (IDF) know the enemy. Additionally, pager and walkie-talkie weapons reveal the military vulnerabilities and intelligence gaps present with the Iran-sponsored Hezbollah terrorist leadership and foot soldiers.
Individually targeted attacks should not be considered isolated military events. When viewed more broadly, what is taking place with Israel’s attack on Hezbollah in Lebanon is a structured and coordinated campaign. Along with the pager and walkie-talkie attacks on a broad range of Hezbollah members, the IDF has been taking out key leaders. Within the last two months, the IDF has eliminated Fuad Shukr, senior advisor to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Ibrahim Aqil, a member of the Jihad Council, the premier Hezbollah military organization, and Ahmed Wahbi, the leader and trainer of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force.
Aqil and Wahbi were killed in a single airstrike on September 20 by the IDF. In a post on X, IDF Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari explained: “They gathered underground, under a residential building, in the heart of the Dahiyeh, while using civilians as human shield[s]. They met to coordinate terror activities against Israeli civilians.” The posting goes on to say that “At least 10 Hezbollah commanders were killed in the airstrike in Beirut, alongside Aqil.”
Aqil has been one of the most wanted terrorists for more than three decades. “Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah leader behind a trio of bombing attacks that killed more than 250 Americans in the 1980s … Aqil – most recently a member of Hezbollah’s highest military body, the Jihad Council – ‘was eliminated in a targeted intelligence-based strike in Beirut,’ the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement,” the New York Post explained.
What the IDF is doing is methodically sowing confusion among the Iran-backed Hezbollah membership by creating distrust in what was thought to be reliable electronic equipment, disrupting the organization’s communications, rendering command and control ineffective, and selectively killing the Hezbollah leaders, effectively severing the head of the serpent. When fighting a war, and one would argue Israel is fighting a war, what the IDF is doing is an effective tactic for seriously degrading the enemy’s ability to endanger Israeli residents. A primary objective of the Israeli government is to create a safe opportunity for the over 62,000 Israeli refugees from the towns and villages along and close to the Israel-Lebanon border to return to their homes.
This can’t happen while Hezbollah is capable and willing to continue its rocket assault on northern Israel. Since October 7, when Iran-supplied Hamas terrorists went on a murderous rampage through southern Israel, more than 8,000 rockets and missiles have been launched at Israel by Hezbollah. The IDF is doing what it can to make it stop. What is America’s reaction to Israeli successes in Lebanon? National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters about his confidence in negotiations, saying, “Our intensive diplomacy efforts continue … We believe, continue to believe that a diplomatic solution is the best way forward, [as opposed to] escalating any of the military conflict.”
All the talking heads in the Biden-Harris administration were very quick to explain the US had no part in the pager and walkie-talkie attacks. This is a common refrain whenever Israel takes the initiative against its enemies. The Pentagon and State Department want to distance themselves from what Israel does in defending itself. It’s as if being associated with success is a bad thing.
US Reaction to Operations Against Hezbollah Not Supportive
Pentagon press releases from September 19 and 20 contained readouts of Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s phone conversations with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant each day – the first following the pager attack and the second after the walkie-talkie assault. On the 19th, Austin “expressed his concern over the current escalation of exchanges between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah. He emphasized the importance of making every possible effort to reach a diplomatic resolution”; and on the 20th, Austin “reiterated his concern over the current escalation of exchanges between Israel and Lebanese Hizballah … [and] strongly reemphasized the importance of reaching a diplomatic solution.” Do you see the similarity in the readouts?
The US's understanding of the conflict is a broken record of repetitious and useless rhetoric. Israel is in a fight for its very existence. The Biden-Harris administration has consistently believed chatting with terrorists will solve the problem. But when has that been true?
The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliate.
