Front Burner

Israel's historic, deadly cyber attack in Lebanon

Following Israel’s unprecedented attack on personal communications devices belonging to Hezbollah members across Lebanon and Syria, a reporter on the ground in Beirut and an Israeli intelligence expert help us make sense of the strikes, and the potential for further escalation.
People sitting at a cafe as Nasrallah delivers televised address on the screen.
People watch Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah delivering a televised address, as they sit at a cafe in Beirut, Lebanon September 19, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (Mohamed Azakir/Reuters)

This week in Lebanon, a series of attacks targeted personal communications devices — like pagers and walkie talkies — belonging to members of the political and paramilitary organization Hezbollah. At least 37 people were killed and more than 3,000 injured, according to the health ministry.  Among the dead are at least two children.

Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, referred to the attack as an 'act of war' and a 'major terrorist operation.' Israeli officials have said the country has entered a 'new phase of the war.' 

For a better picture on the ground in Beirut, as well as a sense of how the Israeli intelligence service managed to sabotage thousands of devices in Lebanon we're joined by two journalists. 

Edmund Bower is in Beirut and has reported for The Guardian, The Times of London and the Atlantic. And Yossi Melman is the co-author of Spies Against Armageddon as well as numerous other books on Israeli intelligence. He's also an analyst for the newspaper Haaretz.

In this episode, we refer to a few previous episodes of Front Burner, which you can find below:

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