BEIRUT – In a speech during the annual conference of the Institute for National Security Studies at the Hebrew University of Reichman, Mossad chief David Barnea revealed that “the walkie-talkie operation was developed about a decade ago, during the era of Tamir Pardo, and continued during the era of Yossi Cohen.”

He added, “When we realized that the walkie-talkie operation was not effective in all combat situations. Therefore, we thought of another way to harm Hezbollah 'terrorists' by detonating a device that was permanently attached to their bodies.”

Barnea stated, “The first shipment to Lebanon containing only 500 pagers arrived just weeks before the terrible massacre on October 7,” noting that “at the same time, thousands of communication devices from the old operation were stored in Hezbollah’s warehouses.”

The head of Israel’s foreign spy service said “activating the two operations at the beginning of the war would not have achieved the powerful achievement on the battlefield that we achieved when they were activated.”

Barnea stated, “The day when thousands of devices exploded in the hands of Hezbollah ‘terrorists’ will remain in memory as a turning point in the war, the day when the power of the trick exceeded the power of the movement.”

The Mossad chief claimed that the evil Pager Massacre showed “intelligence penetration, a deep understanding of the enemy, technological superiority, and first-class operational capabilities.”

He continued, “The operation symbolizes the turning point in the war in the north, and the starting point for the ten days in which things turned against our enemies. A clear line can be drawn in the war in the north from the alarms to the elimination of [Sayyed] Nasrallah, to the agreement.”

Barnea claimed that the severe blow Hezbollah received “shattered its morale. Victory in war is not measured by the number of dead or the number of destroyed missiles, but by victory over the spirit, morale, and motives of the enemy.”

The Israeli enemy blew up pagers on September 17, 2023. The next day, it blew up ICOM’s walkie-talkies, killing at least 40 Hezbollah fighters and civilians and wounding around 3,000, including women and children.

The advanced electronic device industry relies on distributed production and supply processes; each device consists of components sourced from different countries, with the final device assembled in another country. Then it is shipped through international trade networks.

Obviously, the Israeli enemy exploited Hezbollah’s need for pagers—which were believed to be less vulnerable to eavesdropping and tracking due to their technical simplicity—to disrupt communications and affect the resistance’s ability on the battlefield.

Today, technology is not just a tool of the US-led Israeli hostility, but a means of establishing colonial hegemony.

Besides, the Western powers repeatedly remind us that technological superiority must remain their exclusive right, and that any attempt to surpass them, just like what Iran, Russia and China are doing, will be met with difficulties.

What happened in Lebanon is not just targeting Hezbollah members, but a systematic contamination of technology itself, which is supposed to improve people’s lives and not used as a weapon to slaughter and disfigure them.

Technological industry has always promised to enhance communication, empower individuals, and bridge distances between peoples, not to undermine basic human rights, such as the right to safe and independent communication.

A deeper analysis reveals however that modern technology will remain under the control of imperialism in a bid to punish us, how and when it pleases.

Despite the unforgettable bloody crime, nothing would deter the resistance from moving forward in enhancing and developing innovative means of communication, not only to maintain digital security but also to enable its crews to interact with advanced technology in ways that preserve its independence and ensure that it does not fall into the trap of technological hegemony, as our Leader Sayyed Ali Khamenei always recommends.