By Nohad Topalian | 2024-09-24

BEIRUT -- Two waves of simultaneous explosions targeting the wireless communications devices of Hizbullah elements in Lebanon on September 17 and 18 have sent the Iran-backed party into a frenzy.

The incidents, which killed at least 32 people and wounded around 3,000, instantly revealed that Hizbullah's communications network had been hacked, leaving it vulnerable and exposed, observers and analysts said.

In Beirut and other parts of Lebanon, Hizbullah elements were seen tossing away their pagers and radios (walkie talkies) or frantically taking the batteries out of devices that had not exploded, Reuters reported.

The unprecedented attacks mark the largest security breach in Hizbullah's history and put into question the ability of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to protect its proxies, analysts said.

"It's clearly a technological and security breach," Amal Saad, a Hizbullah researcher and lecturer at Britain's Cardiff University, told AFP.

Hizbullah avoids using Lebanon's state-run telecommunications network because it has been breached by Israel, a security source said.

Party operatives use pagers "to summon fighters to the front lines, tell administrative officials or health personnel when they are needed, but also to warn of Israeli drones flying overhead," he said.

Weaknesses and vulnerabilities

What happened to Hizbullah's wireless devices is "the largest, most serious security breach Hizbullah has faced in its history, by the party's own admission," Lebanese military expert Brig. Gen. Khalil al-Helou told Al-Fassel.

"This will throw the party and its elements into a state of confusion and dispersion," he said.

"It is a major tactical blow to Hizbullah's operational and combat capabilities and to the morale of its leaders and fighters," many of whom have suffered serious injuries, he added.

The incidents show that "Hizbullah's communications devices are exposed, unprotected and vulnerable to multiple security breaches," he said.

This "unprecedented security breach" proves that Hizbullah's communication networks are fragile and exposed and that the group does not possess advanced technology, Lebanese security expert Brig. Gen. Yarab Saqr told Al-Fassel.

The attacks have caused great confusion among party members and disrupted Hizbullah's communications network, he said.

Over the past decade, a series of incidents also has highlighted the vulnerability of the Iranian regime's communications network and security apparatus.

These security breaches have included acts of sabotage, cyberattacks and the assassination of at least five Iranian nuclear scientists.

The two recent incidents in Lebanon demonstrate that the vulnerability of the Iranian regime and IRGC also extends to its proxies, Saqr said.