The device explosions in Lebanon last week were part of Israel’s “red button” plan, designed to be activated at a critical moment for maximum impact against an adversary, current and former Israeli officials with knowledge of the pager operation told the Washington Post.
The double round of device explosions that took place last week throughout Lebanon caused a high number of Hezbollah casualties throughout the country.
According to the report, the plot was primarily part of Israel’s long-term strategy to develop its “red button capability” to be prepared for critical moments.
“A ‘red button’ is a concept for something you can use when you want or need it,” a former Israeli official with knowledge of the pager operation explained in the report.
However, the reasoning behind the timing of the device attack has not been fully understood.
The device explosion attack “wasn’t part of the comprehensive plan” envisioned when the operation was initially implanted, the official continued, while also noting that it did have a significant impact in hindering the Lebanese terror group.
An additional former Israeli intelligence official explained that the operation was considered top secret and was part of “a multiyear investment in penetrating Hezbollah’s communications, logistics, and procurement structures.”
“Long before the pagers were packed with explosives, Israel’s external intelligence agency, Mossad, and other services had developed a detailed understanding of what Hezbollah needs, what its gaps are, which shell companies it works with, where they are, who are the contacts,” the second Israeli official explained.
The official also elaborated that after the network around Hezbollah was mapped, Israel needed to create a network of companies that sell to one another, as that would allow Israel to move closer to Hezbollah, pursuing agents “who rely on shell companies of their own while hiding any link to Israel.”
Officials in the US try to put together the pieces
Additionally, several US and Western security officials told the Post that they were still piecing together details of the operation.
Criticizing Israel’s operation, a former US intelligence official said in the report that Israel’s decision to rig the devices with explosives rather than with sophisticated espionage equipment reflected a “cult of the offensive mindset in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, prioritizing displays of kinetic power that may not achieve Israel’s broader aims in an escalating regional conflict.”
Conversely, Eyal Pinko, a former Israeli naval commander and intelligence officer, told the Post that the device explosion attack was “a severe hit on the command and control structure of Hezbollah.”
“This will take Hezbollah off-balance. It will take [Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah] quite a long time to set back his forces,” Pinko reportedly noted.
Ralph Goff, a former senior CIA official who served in the Middle East, added in the report that the US had not known of Israel’s device explosion plan because if they had known, officials would “freak out and pull every lever they think they had to get them not to do it.”
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