‘Hezbollah is a completely different echelon of fighting capability’
Israel’s Mossad is “highly likely” to be behind the spate of attacks throughout Lebanon, says Colin Clarke, director of research at The Soufan Group.
“This is about re-establishing the Mossad brand, if you will. After October 7, that brand was damaged significantly. This vaunted, ubiquitous, all-knowing intelligence agency proved to be vulnerable,” Clarke told Al Jazeera.
“What we saw today with the pagers exploding could very well be a prelude to a broader conflict in the Middle East. Many analysts have warned the fight in the north is going to look totally different than what the Israelis encountered in Gaza. And let’s be honest, they’ve struggled to deal with Hamas,” Clarke said.
“Hezbollah is a completely different echelon of fighting capability. Pound for pound, it’s probably the most sophisticated non-state actor in the world. You’re waging a multi-front campaign then, and this will put intensive pressure on the Israelis.”
Houthis condemn ‘Israeli security attack on Lebanon’
The rebel group’s spokesman Mohammed Abdelsalam calls the attacks “a heinous crime and a violation of Lebanese sovereignty”.
“Our condolences and sympathy go to the families of the martyrs in the valiant Islamic resistance, asking God Almighty to have mercy and forgiveness for them, and to grant a speedy recovery to the wounded,” Abdelsalam said in a post on X.
“We are certain that Lebanon is capable of facing all challenges, and has a resistance movement capable of deterring the Zionist enemy entity and making it pay a heavy price for any escalation it may undertake against Lebanon.”
People gather outside a hospital n Beirut
Houthis say they downed US drone
People carry a piece of debris from the wreckage of what Yemen’s Houthis say was a US MQ-9 drone that the Iran-backed group downed in Dhamar province in Yemen in a still image taken from video released on September 16
