RSS
Hezbollah Chief Admits Underestimating Israel’s Surveillance Ahead of Pager Attack, Warns Resistance “Has Limits”

Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Qassem delivers a speech from an unknown location, Nov. 20, 2024, in this still image from video. Photo: REUTERS TV/Al Manar TV via REUTERS.
Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem admitted that the Lebanese terror group severely underestimated the extent of Israel’s surveillance and intelligence capabilities ahead of last September’s pager attack, exposing major security failures within its ranks.
In an interview released Tuesday with the Lebanese site Al-Mayadeen, affiliated with the Iran-backed jihadists of Hezbollah, Qassem revealed that Hezbollah had failed to grasp just how advanced and far-reaching Israel’s surveillance capabilities were.
He explained the group suspected possible wiretapping but “did not realize the extent — that it was near-total and very extensive.”
Even though Hezbollah knew Israel had been conducting aerial surveillance for years, Qassem — who succeeded longtime terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah after Israel killed him last year — said that the group “couldn’t grasp how deep” the surveillance extended.
However, he denied any significant infiltration of Israeli spies within Hezbollah’s senior ranks, stating that no evidence has yet been found of “vast human infiltration.”
Last fall, Israel decimated Hezbollah’s leadership and military capabilities with an air and ground offensive following the group’s attacks on Jerusalem — which they claimed were a show of solidarity with the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas amid the war in Gaza.
The pager attack marked the opening strike of Israel’s military campaign against the Iran-backed terror group, seriously injuring thousands of Hezbollah members when the communication devices they relied on detonated.
In November, Lebanon and Israel reached a US-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended a year of fighting between the Jewish state and Hezbollah.
Under the agreement, Israel was given 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, allowing the Lebanese army and UN forces to take over security as Hezbollah disarms and moves away from Israel’s northern border.
However, Israel maintained troops at several posts in southern Lebanon beyond the ceasefire deadline, as its leaders aimed to reassure northern residents that it was safe to return home.
Jerusalem has continued carrying out strikes targeting remaining Hezbollah activity, with Israeli leaders accusing the group of maintaining combat infrastructure — including rocket launchers — calling this “blatant violations of understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
In his Tuesday interview, Qassem revealed that an investigation conducted after the pager operation uncovered significant weaknesses in Hezbollah’s procurement process stretching back over a year.
“We didn’t know the supply chain had been exposed,” the terrorist leader said.
However, he said the terror group suspected something was wrong with the pagers in the days leading up to the attacks and suggested that their efforts to investigate may have prompted Israel to detonate them earlier than planned.
“There were efforts to examine the pager differently, including attempts to break it open, prompted by some anomalies that raised questions,” Qassem said.
When asked about international pressure to disarm and recent Israeli strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Qassem warned that “resistance will not wait forever. There are limits.”
“There is no third option between victory and martyrdom. We do not have surrender as an option,” the terrorist leader said.
The post Hezbollah Chief Admits Underestimating Israel’s Surveillance Ahead of Pager Attack, Warns Resistance “Has Limits” first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Report: IDF Probes Whether Houthis Used Iranian Cluster Bomb-Bearing Missile

Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
i24 News – The Israeli military said Saturday it launched a probe into the failure of its defenses to fully intercept a missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi jihadists, parts of which struck not far from the Ben Gurion airport on Friday night.
According to the Ynet website, one of the hypotheses being examined is that the projectile contained cluster munitions, similar to those used by Iran to fire at Israeli cities during the 12-day war in June. Cluster munitions pose a challenge to interceptors as they disperse smaller explosives over a wide area.
In June, Iran fired several missiles carrying scattered small bombs with the aim of increasing civilian casualties.
The IDF said on Saturday that its initial review suggests the ballistic missile from Yemen likely fragmented in mid-air. Five interceptors from various systems engaged with the missile, including THAAD, Arrow, David Sling & Iron Dome.
Authorities said that shrapnel impacted a house in the central Israeli moshav of Ginaton, yet no one was hurt, with the fragment landing in the house’s backyard.
RSS
Iran Forces Kill Six Militants, IRNA Reports, Israel Link Seen

The Iranian flag is seen flying over a street in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 3, 2023. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iranian security forces shot dead six militants in a clash in southeastern Iran on Saturday, a day after armed rebels killed five police officers in the restive region, the official news agency IRNA reported.
IRNA said evidence showed the group was linked to Israel and may have been trained by Israel‘s Mossad spy agency. There was no immediate Israeli reaction to the allegation.
Another two members of the militant group were arrested, the report said. All but one of the militants were foreign, it added, without giving their nationality.
Iranian police said this month they had arrested as many as 21,000 suspects during the 12-day war with Israel in June.
Iran’s southeast has been the scene of sporadic clashes between security forces and armed groups, including Sunni militants and separatists who say they are fighting for greater rights and autonomy.
Tehran says some of them have ties to foreign powers and are involved in cross-border smuggling and insurgency.
RSS
Benny Gantz Urges Time-Limited National Unity Government to Further Chances of Hostage Deal

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz attends his party’s meeting at the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, June 27, 2022. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz on Saturday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition politicians to form a temporary national unity government to further the chances of bringing home the hostages held in Gaza.
Addressing Netanyahu, Yair Lapid and Avigdor Liberman, Gantz said that the proposed government’s two supreme priorities would be the release of Israeli hostages held by the jihadists of Hamas and instituting universal conscription in Israel by ending the exemption from military service enjoyed by the ultra-Orthodox.
Upon attainment of the goals, the government would dissolve and call an election.
“The government’s term will begin with a hostage deal that brings everyone home,” Gantz said in a video address. “Within weeks, we will formulate an enlistment outline that would see our ultra-Orthodox brethren drafted to the military and ease the burden on those already serving. Finally, we will announce an agreed-upon election date in the spring of 2026 and pass a law to dissolve the Knesset [Israeli parliament] accordingly. This is what’s right for Israel.”