Lebanon has accused Israel of sabotaging thousands of pagers, causing explosions that resulted in several deaths and thousands of injuries. This incident is believed to be an attempt to undermine the Islamist militant group Hezbollah. Israel has not confirmed or denied its involvement. The attack occurred after nearly a year of cross-border rocket exchanges between the two sides, adding another front to the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
United Nations, government, and tech industry officials are puzzled by how the coordinated blasts were executed. However, former operatives from Israel’s intelligence agencies, Mossad and Shin Bet, have disclosed details about past operations that required significant technical and operational skill.
Deadly Phone Call
In 1996, Shin Bet used a mobile phone rigged with explosives to assassinate Yahya Ayyash, a Hamas bombmaker known as “the Engineer,” in Gaza. A Palestinian intermediary delivered the phone to Ayyash under the pretense of receiving a call from his father. Once Israeli eavesdroppers confirmed it was Ayyash on the line, the phone was remotely detonated, resulting in a fatal injury.
Neck Poison
In 1997, in response to a series of Hamas suicide bombings, then Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the assassination of Khaled Mashaal, the leader of Hamas’ politburo, in Amman, Jordan. Two undercover Mossad agents attempted to poison Mashaal by spraying a toxic substance on his neck as he exited his car. One agent pretended to open a can of Coca-Cola to disguise the liquid. The assassination attempt failed when Mashaal’s daughter spotted the agents, causing an aide to notice them and thwart the plan.
The agents were detained by Jordanian police and were only repatriated after Israel provided an antidote that saved Khaled Mashaal’s life.
**Fake Tourists**
In 2010, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, an international arms dealer for Hamas, was found dead in his Dubai hotel room. Initially ruled a natural death by Emirati authorities, the case was reopened after Hamas accused Israel of the assassination. The investigation revealed CCTV footage showing a Mossad team, using cloned European passports and posing as tourists, businesspeople, and hotel staff, monitoring Mabhouh and subsequently attacking him. An autopsy revealed that Mabhouh had been sedated and suffocated.
Traffic Blasts
Between 2010 and 2020, several Iranian nuclear scientists were killed or injured in attacks that authorities attributed to Israel. Most incidents involved magnetized bombs attached to vehicles by motorcyclists, according to Iranian state media. While Israel has not confirmed responsibility for these attacks, it has acknowledged its covert conflict with Iran. Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett later claimed responsibility for a similar assassination in Tehran in 2022.
Satellite Sniper
In 2020, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iran’s top nuclear scientist, was assassinated while driving in a convoy near Tehran. Some Iranian reports suggested that Israel used a satellite-controlled sniper rifle mounted on a pickup truck, equipped with AI face recognition. While Israel did not confirm the assassination, then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously identified Fakhrizadeh as the head of a secret Iranian nuclear weapons program, famously stating: “Remember his name.”
