A man holds a walkie-talkie after removing its battery at the funeral, on Sept. 18, 2024, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, of those killed when a deadly wave of hundreds of paging devices exploded across Lebanon the day before. (Credit: Anwar Amro/AFP)
What happened on Sept. 17 and Sept. 18 sounds more like the stuff of science fiction. The rules of engagement between Israel and Hezbollah shook up completely following the waves of simultaneous pagers and walkie-talkies that Hezbollah’s members use exploding, leaving thousands injured and at least 30 dead, including civilians and children. These operations, planned months in advance, have everything to jeopardize the deterrence Hezbollah has established since the July 2006 war. Alongside the Iranians, Hezbollah must decide on either launching a major attack in response to Israel and restoring the balance of terror or exposing itself to more similar strikes in the future. Within Hezbollah, discussions revolve around this dilemma, and investigations have been ongoing to identify the origin of the security flaw, particularly since these...
What happened on Sept. 17 and Sept. 18 sounds more like the stuff of science fiction. The rules of engagement between Israel and Hezbollah shook up completely following the waves of simultaneous pagers and walkie-talkies that Hezbollah’s members use exploding, leaving thousands injured and at least 30 dead, including civilians and children. These operations, planned months in advance, have everything to jeopardize the deterrence Hezbollah has established since the July 2006 war. Alongside the Iranians, Hezbollah must decide on either launching a major attack in response to Israel and restoring the balance of terror or exposing itself to more similar strikes in the future. Within Hezbollah, discussions revolve around this dilemma, and investigations have been ongoing to identify the origin of the security flaw, particularly since...
