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The journey to infiltrating the Lebanese Hezbollah was not easy for Israel. Since its inception in the early 1980s, until it became one of the prominent military and political forces in Lebanon, the party posed a major challenge to Israel, which over decades had accumulated unique intelligence methods and methods to infiltrate it, so that it had the opportunity to involve the party in the Syrian conflict. They succeeded in penetrating him and inflicting blows on him one after another.
On the evening of Friday, September 27, 2024, the Israeli military tracked down Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah to a bunker built deep beneath a residential complex in southern Beirut, and dropped up to 80 bombs to confirm his death, according to Israeli media. Destroying at least four residential buildings.
But the confidence enjoyed by the Israeli military and security establishment, which in the past few weeks has dealt sustained devastating blows to one of its largest regional rivals, hides the uncomfortable truth that, during nearly four decades of fighting against Hezbollah, Israel has been unable to turn the tide. Only recently. According to current and former officials, what has changed is the depth and quality of intelligence information that Israel has been able to rely on in the past two months, starting with the assassination of Fouad Shukr, one of Nasrallah’s strong arms, on July 30.
Over the next two decades, the 8200th and 9900th Divisions were considered an example of how advanced technology could be used in military intelligence, with the advanced Israeli 8200th Intelligence Unit, which collects intelligence through electronic eavesdropping and cyberespionage, and the 9900th Photo Intelligence Division, which focuses on the use of aerial and satellite imagery. To collect information about enemies and provide accurate analyzes of field conditions, providing vital support to Israeli army operations.
transformation
In tracking the stages of this penetration, we find that the year 2006 was a year of radical transformation in the dealings of Israeli intelligence with Hezbollah. During that war, the Israeli army attempted to assassinate Hassan Nasrallah, but its attempts failed, and none of the air strikes directed against Nasrallah achieved their goals.
Although Israel lost that battle, it emerged with one important benefit, which was the decision to re-evaluate its intelligence capabilities and strategies. The Israeli security and intelligence services focused on strengthening information gathering efforts, which allowed them to analyze the situation more accurately. According to former intelligence officer Miri Eisin, this transformation It required a comprehensive view of Hezbollah as a military and political force, rather than focusing only on its military wing.
The Iranian intervention in Syria, and the subsequent intervention of Hezbollah, in support of Assad, added complexity to the scene, but it gave Israel a golden opportunity to enhance its intelligence capabilities, as it succeeded in testing advanced technologies such as satellites and drones to uncover important loopholes for the party, which increased the accuracy of the attack. The intelligence you collect.
General data
One of the most important results of Hezbollah’s involvement in the Syrian war was its exposure to the Israeli intelligence service, which came upon a mine of public data, where information about the dead and “martyr posters” were an effective means of collecting a lot of information about Hezbollah fighters, such as details about the fighters’ affiliations. And their location, which helped determine patterns of movement and communication within the group. For example, the funerals of party fighters in Syria reflected important details about senior leaders, which allowed Israel to understand and analyze their movements, leading to seizing them one by one.
One of the most prominent gaps that the Syrian war created for Hezbollah was that it forced it to expand and recruit new fighters, which made it more vulnerable to penetration by Israeli spies. This rapid recruitment had a significant contribution to undermining Hezbollah’s internal control mechanisms, making the group less able to secure its information.
techniques
Israel uses advanced technologies such as satellites and drones to collect information, as it allocated Unit 9900 to analyze huge amounts of images and data to identify the simplest minor changes in locations, so that this information can be used to determine the locations of party fighters, and follow up on communications from smart devices, in addition to information Derived from modern household appliances, such as microphones on television remote controls, which have contributed to revealing sensitive information about individuals’ movements.
Despite all these capabilities, new challenges have emerged to Israeli confidence, such as the intersection of politics and security. Air strikes have repeatedly been canceled at the request of the United States, which reflects the complexities of the political and military scene in the region.
fruits
In recent weeks, Israeli intelligence efforts have resulted in devastating strikes against Hezbollah. Beginning last July, Israel succeeded in assassinating Fouad Shukr, one of the group’s prominent leaders, which constituted a milestone in the conflict.
This success reflects the progress Israel has achieved in gathering intelligence information about leadership and operations within Hezbollah. However, despite Israel’s successes, Hezbollah still represents a real threatening force.
This ongoing situation requires Israel to remain prepared, while continuing to strengthen its intelligence capabilities to ensure its security, and the battle against Hezbollah will remain a long-term battle, based on rapid adaptation and response to developments on the ground.
