The recent attacks on Hezbollah involving thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies exploding were successful covert operations carried out by Israel’s spy agency. Israel has a long history of using high-tech tools and spycraft to hunt down its enemies, starting from before the country’s founding in 1948. Over the years, Israel has employed various tactics like letter bombs, poison, booby traps, armed drones, and even an artificial intelligence-assisted machine gun to carry out targeted assassinations.
However, these operations have raised ethical dilemmas and often produced only temporary successes without lasting effects. Despite numerous targeted killings, groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Iranians quickly replace the slain individuals. Israel’s covert operations have resulted in some major blunders, such as mistaking innocent individuals for targets, like in the case of the 1973 killing of a Moroccan waiter in Norway.
Israel’s use of armed drones has significantly expanded the scope of their assassination operations, allowing them to target individuals without risking the lives of troops or spies. Recent assassinations of key figures like Hamas bombmaker Yahya Ayyash and top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh showcase the effectiveness of these tactics.
Since the recent attacks by Hamas on Israel, Israel has intensified its covert operations, targeting senior Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iranian figures with drone strikes. Mossad’s chief has vowed to pursue all those involved in the attacks, promising to track them down wherever they may be. Israel’s use of covert operations remains a controversial but effective tool in their ongoing conflict with their enemies.
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