E-Paper
Why Israeli attack on Hezbollah’s communication was a tipping point
It is quite evident that communication networks of Iranian proxies have been infiltrated by Israel and the jihadist terror network is crippled to that extent.
New Delhi: Till the time that pagers and hand-held radios of Iranian terror proxy Hezbollah started exploding, surprise was the element always in favor of the terrorists. After the pin-pointed assassination of Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, another proxy of Iran, through covert action by Israel, on July 31, the exploding pagers and radio receivers in Lebanon construe a new chapter in counter-terrorism. The Israeli intelligence has virtually redeemed itself after the humongous failure on October 7, 2023 by humiliating Iran and its terror proxies in the Middle-East.
That the Israeli intelligence was able to breach the supply chain of Hezbollah and perhaps other adversaries makes a strong case why nations should focus on domestic manufacturing and not be vulnerable to third country imports. While intelligence agencies all over the world would study the Israeli operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon, the exploding electronic devices have made the world more vulnerable with growing demands of totally secure hardware supply chains. Clearly, the future war will not be hand to hand combat but cyberattack designed at crippling the capacities and capabilities of the adversary. It is also quite evident that communication networks of Iranian proxies have been infiltrated by Israel and the jihadist terror network is crippled to that extent.
Given that India has been on cross-sights of Pakistan based Islamist terror groups for the past three decades, the Indian intelligence agencies need to wake up to the possibility of a Lebanon scenario being played out in the country as a large number of Indians use mobile phones that are made by Pakistan’s iron brother China. The Israeli counter-terror action has also a message for Indian armed forces to secure their communications rather than use phone and hand-held devices made in the western countries. Unless the supply chain is secure and monitored 24X7, Indian armed or security forces could also be crippled by the adversaries through proxy attack.
The counter-terror action by Israel against Hezbollah clearly demoralized the cadre of the Shia terrorist group and their handlers as terrorists will now think 50 times before even touching a communication device as it could explode. The CT action by Israel was surgical, unlike the Indian intelligence agencies who were not only tipped off by the Americans before the 26/11 attack but also the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terrorists were using SIMs that were both planted and monitored by Indian agencies.
While Iran is expected to retaliate to the Israeli escalation in Lebanon and Tehran, both sides cannot afford an all-out war and hence the Ayatollahs in Persia may also covertly respond to the latest aggravation by Tel Aviv. The Iranian reaction would be beside usual missile attacks and bombardment by its proxies like Hamas, Houthis, Kaitab Hezbollah and Hezbollah itself from Lebanon.
The exploding pager and hand held devices will also be an urgent subject for aviation security as there is a possibility of terrorists triggering off attacks on board the aircraft using VOIP communications. It is quite evident that the Israeli CT action will make life more difficult for a normal air traveler, who was already facing harassment since the 9/11 attacks.
