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a snow job for terrorism by israhell......A US intelligence source has said that the suspected Mossad “supply chain interdiction” operation behind this week’s explosive pager attacks in Lebanon took 15 years or longer to plan. Sputnik asked FSB counterterrorism vet Andrei Popov how the attack was pulled off, and what Hezbollah could do to prevent it from recurring. An intelligence source told ABC News on Thursday that Israel planned Tuesday and Wednesday’s exploding electronic device attacks over many years, using shell companies and “multiple layers” of intelligence and assets fronting as a legitimate company, with some of those involved said to have no knowledge of whom they were really working for. Sources further suggested that explosives were planted on the tampered pagers alongside a remote trigger switch. Separately, three sources said to have been briefed on the operation told the New York Times that Israeli intelligence had set up at least three shell companies for the pagers’ production, including the now outed Budapest-based BAC Consulting. “Such revelations are only possible under the supervision of the special services… and the journalist writing such things, I can say with 100% certainty, is an agent of the special services, handed something to write by a trusted person. Or an editor told them ‘here’s the information, write it in your own name,’” FSB Reserve Colonel and Alfa anti-terror special forces veterans association member Andrei Popov told Sputnik, pointing to the problems that arise when listening to “anonymous intelligence sources” speaking to US media. Popov says that much if not all of the string of revelations now being reported on in the media about the Lebanon blasts is a snow job concocted in consultation with Mossad to allow the Israeli intelligence agency to “cover their tracks and provide a false but plausible lead. That’s how I perceive it from an operational point of view,” he said. As for the 15 years of planning claim, this is obviously bogus, the FSB vet said, saying he doesn’t fully comprehend the logical behind such "fairy tales." “Such an operation, from an operative’s point of view, is quite simple. You don’t need to prepare it over 15 years. I think this claim was made to raise Mossad’s prestige, which, of course, fell to an unparalleled low after the October 7 terror attacks,” Popov stressed. That’s not to say operations stretching out over five, ten, twenty years aren’t possible in intelligence work, Popov elaborated, pointing to an example of a KGB operation feeding the NSA and West German intelligence false information for about a decade after discovering that NATO had intercepted a communications channel between the Soviet Union and East Germany. But it’s a different story for operations involving technology, he added, noting that from a technical point of view, both the pagers’ characteristics and the radio frequencies at which they operate change over such a long period of time. How Difficult Was Pager Attack to Pull Off? From a technical standpoint, the pager plot was not rocket science to concoct, Popov said. Among its requirements were a detailed knowledge of Hezbollah’s equipment needs, and what purchases it plans to make, to figure out what items can be swapped for rigged devices, and at what stage. As for equipment rigging, this is a tried-and-true tool of spy agencies going back many, many years. “It’s enough to remember the experience of the KGB, or even intelligence services during the Great Patriotic War, when certain caches would be placed in construction materials, in equipment, knowing that they were intended for use by the enemy. These caches would provide us with information – audio, visual, information about radiation, etc. Or, they could be rigged for the destruction of a certain target,” Popov said. The same is true for the Mossad, the Russian intel officer said, pointing out that the Israeli spy agency has been using technology-based tactics since at least the 1970s, when it began using telephones packed with explosives to carry out assassination attacks. From the operational perspective, the pager terror would have been “much easier [to prepare] by replacing the goods during transportation, during the logistical stage,” according to Popov. “What is several thousand pagers? It’s several boxes. It’s not a trainload, it’s not a refrigerator – it’s several boxes that can be transported in one minivan. The main thing to know is the marking, the packaging, the pager numbers and the preparation of duplicates,” Popov noted, saying this would be the simplest option for Israeli intelligence.
YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.
THE COVER OF THE NEW YORK POST POSTED AT TOP IS A DISGUSTING PIECE OF SHIT BUT WHAT CAN IYOU EXPECT FROM THIS MURDOCH RAG?.....
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not so hidden goal....
BY Mohammed Mourtaja
The Israeli war on Lebanon's hidden goal: Gaza's full erasure
While the world's attention shifts to Lebanon, Israel may pursue another darker goal - completing its ethnic cleansing of Gaza
This week, Lebanon was rocked by deadly explosions targeting the communication devices of Hezbollah members. The blasts killed at least 32 people, including two children and several healthcare workers, while wounding thousands more.
Israel has not denied responsibility for this mass cyberattack, while several officials close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have hinted that Israel was behind it.
It marks a new escalation in what was previously a slow-burning war of attritionbetween Hezbollah and Israel. While the magnitude of the attack is massive and unprecedented, it should not have come as a surprise.
For weeks, Israeli officials have signalled the need for military intervention to stop Hezbollah rockets and to secure the return of more than 60,000 displaced Israelis to their homes in the north.
One day before the attacks, Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told American officials that "time is running out" to stop the escalation with Hezbollah from turning into a full-blown war.
Indeed, this attack could mark the beginning of such a war. Israel's continued provocations will force Hezbollah to respond, making a full-scale war the only possible outcome.
On Thursday, Israel continued to escalate its aggression in what was the heaviest bombardment of southern Lebanon since the start of the war. A massive air strike on a densely populated residential neighbourhood in Beirut on Friday killed at least 14 people, including children, and senior Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil.
The threat of war, however, will have implications far beyond Lebanon, as it will turn the world's attention away from Gaza and allow Israel to complete its mass killing and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
Darker goalsThe timing of the recent provocations in Lebanon was carefully calculated, as the current US administration is limited in its ability to influence Israel to stop a full-scale war - a dream for many Israeli officials.
In June, Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who repeatedly warned Netanyahu against a ceasefire deal, called for the invasion of Lebanon. A month later, Smotrich further called for the occupation of south Lebanon. With the US distracted by a heated election year, Netanyahu is fulfilling Smotrich and Ben Gvir's dream.
Follow Middle East Eye's live coverage of the Israel-Palestine war
In any potential war against Lebanon, Israel would employ many of the tactics it has used in Gaza - the targeting of civilian infrastructure, bombing residential areas, and starving the population.
This war would undoubtedly draw widespread international attention - as it should - due to the high number of civilian casualties that would occur. However, while the world focuses on Lebanon, Israel may pursue another darker goal: completing its ethnic cleansing of Gaza.
For a few months, global attention towards the suffering in Gaza has been diminishing.
Should a war break out in Lebanon, whatever is left of attention towards Gaza would be directed to Lebanon. This distraction will provide Israel with a perfect cover to continue its campaign of killing, injuring, starving, and displacing Palestinians in Gaza.
It has been evident since the early days of the war, and through leaked documents, that Israel aims to get rid of Palestinians in Gaza forever - either by forcing them into Egypt or killing them.
The ethnic cleansing of Gaza has so far officially killed over 41,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials. But a study published by The Lancet in July shows Gaza's true death toll could reach at least 186,000. After nearly one year of Israel's war on Gaza, Palestinians are fighting to survive the looming outcome of Israel's goal - complete erasure.
Recently, the Israeli government appointed a permanent military governor for Gaza, signalling its long-term occupation and even annexation. Such plans are hard to conceal under current international scrutiny. A war on Lebanon could shift the world's focus away from Gaza, paving the way for Israel to advance its genocidal ambitions in Gaza.
The world has already stopped talking about the constant bombing of schools, the killing of aid workers, or preventing the delivery of aid. June saw the lowest number of aid trucks entering Gaza since October, a record surpassed by August.
Before the war, Gaza needed around 500 aid trucks a day. In August, the daily average of humanitarian truckloads was 69 trucks. This systematic decrease in aid is not an accident. It is a plan to push Palestinians out to Egypt or, if that fails, to starve them to death.
With a new front in Lebanon, this plan will be fully executed in Gaza. Israel's goal of ethnically cleansing Gaza remains, and while light must undoubtedly be shed on Lebanon if a war breaks out, we must also prevent Israel from accelerating its genocidal agenda in Gaza.
The Arab world must unite in opposition to Israel's genocide in Gaza and aggression against Lebanon. The international community should step up to the moment and sanction the Israeli government for its actions.
We must not forget Gaza because history surely will not.