(Axios) Israel decided to blow up the pager devices carried by Hezbollah members in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday out of concern its secret operation might have been discovered by the group, three U.S. officials told Axios.
Why it matters: The attack took place as tensions rise between Israel and Hezbollah, which U.S. officials are highly concerned will devolve into all out war.
- “It was a use it or lose it moment,” one U.S. official said describing the reasoning Israel gave the U.S. for the timing of the attack.
Driving the news: Hezbollah threatened to retaliate for the pager attack, which killed at least nine people, including a child, and wounded 2,800 others.
- Hezbollah said many members of its military units and institutions were among the casualties.
- On Wednesday morning local time, Hezbollah issued a statement saying it is going to continue fighting against Israel along the border separately from its revenge for the pager attack, adding that Israel should expect retaliation for the operation.
Behind the scenes: A former Israeli official with knowledge of the operation said Israeli intelligence services planned to use the booby-trapped pagers it managed to “plant” in Hezbollah’s ranks as a surprise opening blow in an all- out war to try to cripple Hezbollah.
- But in recent days, Israeli leaders became concerned that Hezbollah might discover the pagers. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his top ministers and the heads of the Israel Defense Forces and the intelligence agencies decided to use the system now rather than take the risk of it being detected by Hezbollah, a U.S. official said.
- The Israeli concerns that led to the decision to conduct the attack were first reported by Al-Monitor, which said two Hezbollah operatives raised suspicions about the pagers in recent days.
When President Biden’s top adviser Amos Hochstein visited Israel on Monday, Netanyahu, Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant and other senior officials were engaged in hours of security consultations around the issue of the operation being potentially compromised.
