According to news reports and my Israeli source, Hezbollah discovered Israeli surveillance gear planted within its telecommunications network. When a sapper attempted to disable and retrieve the Israeli equipment an Israeli drone overhead remotely detonated the device, killing the Hezbollah operative. Both Israel and Hezbollah make continuing attempts to hack the intelligence operations and communications equipment of each other.
My source says:
…The device was planted a few years ago in a joint operation by Shayetet 13 and Sayeret Matkal in South Lebanon’s coastal area. Its purpose was to listen to Hezbollah’s communication network. This was a new iteration created in 2008, after Unit 8200 succeeded in hacking the group’s wireless network before and during 2006 war. The new Hezbollah system covers much of Lebanon.
Not to be outdone, during the 2006 Lebanon war, with the assistance of Iranian technicians, Hezbollah monitored the broadcast frequencies of IDF units and knew in advance what they planned. This was one of the many ways in which Hezbollah made the IDF pay a heavy price for its invasion.
As indicated above, the IDF has planted listening devices in southern Lebanon, some of which Hezbollah has uncovered. Hezbollah has also exposed several Israeli spy rings which participated in planting these devices and other acts of espionage. In fact, Ben Zygier is reported to have compromised one such Mossad operation in the Bekaa Valley by exposing one of its most valuable Lebanese agents there.
