ALBAWABA - Military experts say a recent explosion targeting wireless communication gear in Lebanon signals Israel may be preparing for a ground attack against Hezbollah.
Experts informed Al-Jazeera that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's efforts to heighten northern front tensions coincide with the operation, which destroyed Hezbollah's communication infrastructure.
Official sources reported approximately 2,000 injuries from Tuesday's wireless pager blasts in southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs.
Hezbollah got the attacked devices in a recent shipment, according to the Wall Street Journal. Colonel Hatem Al-Falahi, a military expert, told Al-Jazeera that the bombing targeted crucial communication links, indicating Israel's desire to invade southern Lebanon.
Cutting contact between Hezbollah's leadership and field commanders might hinder decision-making, Al-Falahi called it a "strategic security breach." He stressed that Hezbollah's communication system is separate from Lebanon's official infrastructure, emphasizing the assault.
Brigadier General Elias Hanna told Al-Jazeera that the explosions' timing and size changed the war. Instead of targeting Hezbollah officials, this assault affected hundreds, including pager-carrying non-Hezbollah members. Hanna cautioned that this might incite public hostility against Hezbollah, Israel's biggest adversary.
Al-Falahi said the blasts damaged HF (High Frequency) systems for long-distance communication and BHF (Very High Frequency) systems for shorter-range communication. Both devices have lithium batteries, which may overheat and explode, suggesting they were corrupted before reaching Hezbollah.
Al-Falahi said the simultaneous breakdown of these devices suggests foreign interference, which might expose Hezbollah's core leadership to targeted attacks.
