The violence has led to tens of thousands of people fleeing both sides of the border, ten civilians, as well as 16 Israel Defense Forces soldiers and reservists, have been killed on the Israeli side
In response to targeted Israeli airstrikes that have killed senior commanders, Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group, is turning to low-tech strategies to evade sophisticated surveillance technology, informed sources told Reuters. These methods include coded messages, landline phones, and pagers.
Hezbollah is also employing its own technology—drones—to study and attack Israel’s intelligence-gathering capabilities. Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, described this as a strategy of “blinding” Israel.
The conflict between the two sides has been ongoing since October 8, following a deadly assault on Israel by Hezbollah’s ally, Hamas, in Gaza. This attack resulted in the death of approximately 1,200 people and the seizure of 251 hostages, sparking an ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. While the fighting on Lebanon’s southern border has remained relatively contained, recent escalations have raised concerns about the potential for a full-scale war.
The violence has led to tens of thousands of people fleeing both sides of the border. Ten civilians, as well as 16 Israel Defense Forces soldiers and reservists, have been killed on the Israeli side. Hezbollah has reported the deaths of 364 members, along with 65 operatives from other groups and numerous civilians.
Many Hezbollah casualties occurred near the border amidst the near-daily hostilities, which included launching rockets and explosive drones into northern Israel. However, the group also confirmed the deaths of more than 20 operatives in targeted strikes away from the frontlines, including three top commanders, members of its elite Radwan special forces unit, and intelligence operatives.
Israel’s electronic eavesdropping capabilities, considered among the world’s most advanced, have forced Hezbollah to adapt its tactics. Six sources familiar with the group’s operations told Reuters that cell phones, which can be tracked, have been banned from the battlefield. Instead, Hezbollah uses pagers and couriers to deliver verbal messages.
Hezbollah also relies on a private, fixed-line telecommunications network established in the early 2000s. To avoid interception, code words are used for weapons and meeting sites, and these codes are updated almost daily and delivered by couriers, according to a source familiar with the group’s logistics.
Security experts note that low-tech countermeasures can be quite effective against high-tech spying. Former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, for example, evaded capture for nearly a decade by disconnecting from the internet and phone services and using couriers instead.