'A sign of panic' Operation lacks strategic value other than triggering escalation

It may not have been acknowledged by Israel, but the extraordinary, coordinated attack on Hezbollah, blowing up thousands of pagers used by members of the Lebanese group, is almost certainly a Mossad operation.

- Dan Sabbagh

The Israeli intelligence service has been engaged in the assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders for decades, but if its involvement is confirmed, this represents a significant escalation.

Reports continue to come in, but with at least nine dead and about 3,000 wounded in the co-ordinated explosions, the episode demonstrates a ruthless - if indiscriminate - desire to target Hezbollah. Ironically, pagers were being used as an alternative to mobile phones, which can be tracked and used to pinpoint missile strikes on its commanders.

It is unclear how the explosions were caused, and although there is speculation about hacking, it is most likely they came from sabotaged devices. Initial reports said the pagers that exploded were a new model manufactured by a company whose supply chain may have been compromised.

Yossi Melman, a co-author of Spies Against Armageddon and other books on Israeli intelligence, emphasised that it appeared the exploding pagers had been "recently supplied", and added: "We know that Mossad is able to penetrate and infiltrate Hezbollah."

But he questioned the strategic wisdom of the attack, which left a 10-year-old girl as among the dead.