Dave Patterson: A Buzzing Pager May Be the Last Message a Terrorist Gets

Hezbollah is experiencing a communications problem

In this modern high-tech age of instant communications, the exploding cigar is definitely passé. Terrorist operatives throughout Lebanon learned this the hard way. If you are a Hezbollah terrorist, you might want to think twice before saying, “Call my pager.” On Tuesday afternoon (Sept. 17), the sound of pagers exploding could be heard throughout Lebanon and Syria. Reports describe the detonations as more than just a little pop.

Pager Attack on Hezbollah

In recent weeks, the level of conflict between Israel and the Iran-sponsored Hezbollah terrorist organization has increased intensely. More than 65,000 Israeli citizens have been forced from their homes by the hostilities in northern Israel, where constant rocket attacks by the terrorists have made living and working close to the border untenable. The Israel Defense Force (IDF) has been returning fire on enemy positions used for launching and staging missiles. This attack, specifically targeting Hezbollah fighters and officials, sent a very loud message.

The Wall Street Journal was among the first to break the story:

“Pagers carried by thousands of Hezbollah operatives exploded at about the same time Tuesday afternoon, leaving more than 2,700 injured and eight [updated to nine] dead in an unprecedented event that struck across Lebanon. The affected pagers were from a new shipment that the group received in recent days, people familiar with the matter said. A Hezbollah official said hundreds of fighters had such devices, speculating that malware may have caused the devices to explode.”

This account gives new meaning to the “mal” in malware. Reporting for Fox News from Tel Aviv, Mike Tobin explained, “This is the kind of thing Israel will never confirm, certainly not in the early stages … The pagers that [Hezbollah operatives] were wearing suddenly play an audio message and then explode.” If Israel is behind the attack, the level of sophistication is noteworthy. It means that the Israeli intelligence apparatus infiltrated the pager fabrication or distribution supply chain and modified or replaced the devices with ones that would explode on demand and, in this case, simultaneously at 3:30 p.m. local time. One of those injured carrying a pager was Mojtaba Amani, Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon. The implication is that Iran had some connection to the pagers that seemed to be uniquely carried by Hezbollah terrorists.

“A Hezbollah official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the detonation of the pagers was the ‘biggest security breach’ the group had been subjected to in nearly a year of conflict with Israel,” Reuters explained. The irony is that the low-tech pagers were used to counter Israel’s ability to penetrate cell phone conversations and text transmissions.

The impact that this event will have on the ability of Hezbollah fighters to be secure in communicating with one another will be significant. This operation is also typical of Shin Bet’s and Mossad’s approaches to dealing with terrorists. Breaching Hezbollah and Iranian security to carry out this pager attack demonstrates, again, that Israel can and will eliminate threats to its security wherever they are. As Liberty Nation News reported, “There is another, perhaps more powerful, message being sent to Iran by Israel. Iran must realize they are no match for the effective precision weaponry the IDF can employ quickly, with devastating results for Tehran.”

Israel Has Used Communications Devices Before

Using telecommunication to make a point to terrorists is not a new approach for Israel. Nearly 30 years ago, a Hamas terrorist bomb maker, Yahya Ayyash, got an earful when he was “killed in Gaza City when his cellphone exploded during his weekly phone call to his father in the West Bank. It is a targeted assassination by the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, which intercepts the call, confirms Ayyash’s identity, and detonates the explosives, instantly killing him,” according to an account published by the Center for Israel Education. Ayyash was responsible for bombs that “killed more than 80 Israelis and maimed 400 others.”

The magnitude of the Israeli penetration into the Iranian supply chain and the distribution of electronic communications equipment, nearly 3,000 devices and counting, cannot be overstated. Among the Hezbollah foot soldiers, there must be panic. If the pagers have been compromised, what else may be equally deadly? What other equipment supplied by Iran can kill the user whenever Israel decides? Enemies of Israel must realize that there is no place they can hide, as it has shown to be a master of hybrid or unconventional warfare. Not every attack must rely on a bomb or missile.

Dave is a retired U.S. Air Force Pilot with over 180 combat missions in Vietnam. He is the former Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, Comptroller and has served in executive positions in the private sector aerospace and defense industry. This article was first published HERE