Following the deaths of senior Hezbollah leaders in Israeli airstrikes, the group has resorted to using some old techniques, including banning mobile phones on the battlefield to evade Israeli surveillance. Informed sources indicated that Hezbollah began utilizing codes in messages, landline phones, and beepers in an attempt to bypass Israel's advanced monitoring technology. The group has also started using its own technology, including drones, to study and attack Israel's intelligence-gathering capabilities.
Sources mentioned that Hezbollah learned from its losses and adjusted its tactics in response. The sources stated that mobile phones, which can be tracked to locate users, have been banned from the battlefield and replaced with older communication methods, such as beepers and messengers delivering messages verbally. It was added that "Hezbollah also uses a private ground communications network dating back to the early 2000s."
Necessary Steps but Uncertain Success
Security experts assert that some countermeasures employing older techniques can be very effective against high-tech espionage capabilities. Emily Harding, a former analyst with the CIA who now works at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, noted that "just using a virtual private network (VPN), or better yet, not using a mobile phone at all, can make it more difficult to find and fix the target." She explained, "However, these countermeasures significantly reduce Hezbollah's leadership's effectiveness in communicating quickly with its forces."
Israel Recruits Informants within Hezbollah
Hezbollah and Lebanese security officials believe that Israel is also recruiting informants inside Lebanon while surveilling targets. On November 22, a woman from southern Lebanon received a call on her mobile phone from someone claiming to be a local official, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the incident. The sources said the caller spoke fluent Arabic and asked if her family was home. The woman replied no, explaining they had traveled to eastern Lebanon. Minutes later, a missile struck the woman's home in the village of Bayt Yahun, killing five Hezbollah fighters, including Abbas Raad, the son of a prominent Hezbollah deputy and a member of the Radwan Unit.
