Your pager has exploded, your walkie talkie has been turned into a bomb, and you’ve been told not to use your mobile phone. But you need to fight a war and that requires communication. So now what – Carrier pigeons? Given that Hezbollah claimed it once arrested and killed an Israeli eagle for spying – even the pigeons might turn against you.
Hezbollah urgently needs to reestablish its command-and-control system, especially as it fears an Israeli offensive in the aftermath of injuries to thousands of its fighters. It has a list of options, none are optimal.
WALKIE TALKIES: There will be a number of older walkie talkies, which can be checked for explosives. However, there are unlikely to be enough for the tens of thousands of Hezbollah operatives, they can be jammed, and it’s easy to listen in on them.
LANDLINES: The organization has access to a private Lebanese landline phone system financed by Iran and built during the reconstruction of bridges and roads in the aftermath of the 2006 Hezbollah – Israel war. This involves fibre optic cables running from Beirut to southern Lebanon, and then back up north through the Hezbollah stronghold of the Bekaa Valley. There are two problems with this. The network is unlikely to connect
