Colonel Richard Kemp, the former commander of the British military forces in Afghanistan, spoke to Israel National News - Arutz Sheva about the explosion of pagers and communication devices used by the Hezbollah terrorist organization on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Col. Kemp cautioned that the New York Times was premature in its claim that the detonation of the pagers "was a tactical success that had no clear strategic impact."
He stated, "We do not know whether this attack will have strategic impact, perhaps as part of a larger plan that has not yet unfolded. However that might or might not work out, this operation against Hezbollah will have had a major effect in its own right. First, it will have done immense damage to the terrorist organization, taking a large number of its fighters and leaders out in one go. Plus of course, severely undermining their communications capability."
"Second, it will have intimidated Hezbollah, potentially frightening some members into leaving the group or even scare off new recruits from joining. The psychological impact will be enormous, with every Hezbollah terrorist now fearing that almost everything he owns or touches, including cars, guns, laptops, radios, and other electrical items, could potentially be weaponized against them. This is not what Hezbollah terrorists signed up for. Wide-scale and severe maiming and death by remote control is far removed from the supposed glory of battlefield martyrdom they were promised," he added. "Potentially even, this move could contribute to any future Hezbollah decision on whether or not to pull back from immediate conflict with Israel, not least because it is clear the extent that their organization has been comprehensively penetrated by Israeli intelligence."
"Third, it has humiliated Hezbollah, a terrorist organization that struts its power on the world stage, presenting itself as one of the strongest armies in the Middle East. While trying to conceal its communications from Israel, that very activity has been turned against it in spectacular style. The resulting mockery that has already greeted Hizballah in the region will add to the terrorist group’s demoralization.
He noted that, "Beyond Hezbollah, this operation will also spread fear among Israel’s other enemies including Iran and Syria. They will be terrified that Israel’s long arm will also reach into their own intelligence, terrorist and military apparatus."
Col. Kemp praised the use of the pagers as an extraordinarily precise tactic that limits civilian casualties to an unprecedented degree. "It’s hard to think of a more precise and discriminating method of attack than detonating pagers known to be specifically assigned to individual terrorists, using devices that limit the potential for collateral damage. I doubt any widespread military attack in history in civilian areas has ever been so precisely targeted."
"The targets of the attack were terrorist fighters who are involved, directly or indirectly, in active combat operations against Israel including rocket and drone attacks every day for almost a year. Under international law that makes them legitimate and lawful targets for attack as Israel seeks to defend its citizens from violent aggression," he said.
When asked what Israel could or should do to take advantage of the damage this incident has caused Hezbollah, Col. Kemp responded, "This may be part of a wider military plan and only the Israeli government is in a position to judge what follow-up action now needs to take place. Clearly, Hezbollah is now at an unexpected low point and its weakness is ripe for exploitation."
A second incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon when multiple explosions were reported in the Dahieh area of Beirut, Lebanon, killing at least five people and injuring approximately 500.
Wednesday's incident appears to involve other kinds of communication devices such as walkie-talkies and radios and not just pagers as the original incident on Tuesday had.