On the afternoon of September 17, the first reports began spreading online. Small explosions had occurred around Lebanon—all at seemingly the same moment. Ultimately counted in the thousands, the source of the explosions was quickly identified as pagers belonging to members of Hezbollah. A day later, another series of blasts his Hezbollah handheld radios. The group immediately blamed Israel in what would amount to both a stunning intelligence operation—and a glaring failure of Hezbollah’s internal security.
But why did Israel pick now to conduct use this surprising capability to his Hezbollah? Is it likely to become just another episode in an ongoing shadow war between Israel and Hezbollah? Or will the increase in cross-border strikes from both sides that has followed lead a broader escalation in the conflict? And how is Hezbollah likely to respond to the security breach that has left the group reeling? To explore those questions, John Amble is joined on this episode of the MWI Podcast by Colin P. Clarke, director of research at the Soufan Group and a senior research fellow at the Soufan Center.
The MWI Podcast is produced through an endowment generously funded by the West Point Class of 1974. You can listen to this episode of the podcast below, and if you aren’t already subscribed, be sure to find it on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app so you don’t miss an episode. While you’re there, please take just a moment to leave the podcast a rating or give it a review!
Image credit: Flickr user upyernoz (adapted by MWI)