The Lebanon pager attacks on September 17 and 18, 2024, in which pagers and communications devices belonging to Hizbullah operatives across Lebanon and Syria exploded and killed dozens of Hizbullah operatives and wounded over 4,000, has been discussed widely in Arab media outlets.[1]
Writers throughout the Arab world have asserted that the attack, which has been attributed to Israel, is technologically unprecedented in the era of modern wars. They wrote that this proves that Israel has unquestionable technological and military supremacy over the Islamic resistance axis, headed by Iran and Hizbullah.
They wrote that Israel began decades ago to invest in technological and scientific development, having realized that it is crucial to its survival in the region – while Arab countries and resistance axis factions have focused on advancing their ideology of sacrificing fighters rather than developing their military, weapons, or technology.
The war is now technological. Source: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), September 19, 2024.
This report will present translated excerpts of some of these articles.
Prominent Saudi Journalist: Israel's Supremacy Is Based On Developing Capabilities, While The Supremacy Of Hizbullah And Iran Is Based On Willingness To Sacrifice Fighters
Leading Saudi journalist Abdulrahman Al-Rashed, former CEO of Al-Arabiya TV (Saudi Arabia) and former editor-in-chief of the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, published an article titled "Israel's Technological Supremacy Since 1967." In the article, he wrote that Israel has wisely invested in cybersecurity, military industries, artificial intelligence, and other technological fields, granting it supremacy over the Arab countries. He wrote:
"Over 4,000 [people] were killed or wounded in two high-quality technological operations carried out by Israel against Hizbullah, making use of [Hizbullah's] pagers and communications devices. We are in [an era] of wars of technology, not bravery...
"Half a century ago, [then-Egyptian president Gamal] Abdel Nasser would complain about Israel's supremacy, and today this distance [between the Arabs and Israel] has doubled, making the idea of [the Arabs] changing [the situation] through armed conflict almost impossible, if not naïve.
"Throughout history, technology has played a decisive role in the wars and supremacy of [certain] empires over others... Scientific supremacy is the secret to the victories of humanity, and the development of war machines is a result of advancement in institutions and society.
"What makes Israel supreme is the attention it devotes to technological intellect, granting it prolonged victory to this day in [times of] peace and war, as well as an advantage in its economy despite its small markets. It is advanced when it comes to cyber security, military industries, artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, medical technology, and irrigation and agricultural technology.
"By contrast, the supremacy of Hizbullah, just like Iran's, lies in its willingness to sacrifice its fighters, and of course [in its ability] to bring cheap fighters from Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Yemen, and to adopt replicas of Russian and Chinese weapons by giving them names such as 'Al-Shahid [the martyr],' 'Al-Fattah [the conqueror],' 'Al-Qassam,' and 'Al-Zilzal [earthquake].' Like Al-Qaeda, Hizbullah relies on [its fighters'] bravery and ideological willingness to sacrifice themselves...
"These wars will continue with no decisive outcome. This is because one side takes serious action to develop its capabilities and uses its war against its enemies as an experimentation field, while the other side is steeped in [faith in] supernatural powers and attributes no significance to the loss of human life."[2]
Saudi Writer: Israel Has Proven It Has A Long Arm In The Region; The Balance Of Power Is Definitely In Its Favor
Saudi writer Mashari Al-Dhiadi, who is a columnist for Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, published two articles asserting that the Hizbullah pager attack, which he attributed to Israel, is historically unprecedented in the wars of the modern world. This, he said, proves that Israel is supreme and has a long arm in the region. He wrote:
"From a military perspective, can Hizbullah, or even its sponsor Iran [or] the Houthis in Yemen, defeat Israel? I'm saying this against the backdrop of the first attack of its kind in Israel's modern wars, carried out yesterday [September 17, 2024] against Hizbullah, in a fashion that resembles action the likes of which we do not see in sci-fi movies...
"This military cyber attack... is the newest of its kind in the entire world, and there hasn't been one [like it] even in the Russia-Ukraine war. This incredible attack against Hizbullah members' communications devices, causing their simultaneous detonation, demonstrates Israel's massive supremacy in the field of the new wars...
"Will the wars of words being waged by Hizbullah and Iran [against Israel], and their 'limited conflicts' [against it], be effective, or will they damage the Iranian camp? These forces [perhaps] derive benefit from wars of words or from 'controlled' conflicts, on the tactical-ideological level [and] with regard to political incitement, but can they always control the game of striking the lion on his mouth and whiskers without [sparking] a brutal response that is beyond the boundaries of the game and of the playing field?!"[3]
In another article, Al-Dhiadi wrote: "The smoke and fire of the small explosions in the old pagers [was] barely forgotten when immediately another wave of fire broke out, this time striking mobile [communications] devices and additional devices. If this is the case, it has become clear: This is an Israeli technological attack of a new kind that personally strikes Hizbullah's members and its bases in Lebanon, while leaving behind terrible psychological trauma, along with thousands killed and wounded, including – as is being reported – [Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon] Mujtaba Amani, who carried a pager [issued to] Hizbullah operatives in Lebanon!...
"What is certain so far is that Israel's powerful blow against Hizbullah and even against a few innocent Lebanese people [is] naturally painful and unprecedented... Whether we want it or not, Israel has proven that it has a long arm in the region, as well as [many] surprises, some of which it has revealed and most of which it is concealing. We do not know what the future holds!...
"The decisive balance of power is definitely in Israel's favor – militarily in terms of intelligence and technologically – and recognizing this fact now will spare a lot of suffering, victims, and wasting time with warning speeches. Does this mean capitulation to Israel's will, particularly in the Netanyahu era? Absolutely not. To the contrary: [Recognizing Israel's supremacy] means a return to the Arab path that is loyal to rescuing the Palestinian cause from being exploited by Iran and its proxies, as well as from the populism of Hamas and its [Muslim] Brotherhood, and from the voice cannons of the preachers on social media – and instead creating international political, judicial, and moral pressure mechanisms against Israel's refusal to enter the port of peace... Recognizing reality is not cowardice, but rather logical and also brave..."[4]
Source:Al-Arab (London), September 19, 2024.
Former Kuwaiti Information Minister: Israel Defeated Seven Arab Armies Because Of Its Advanced Research And Scientific Developments
Former Kuwaiti information minister Sami Abdullatif Al-Nesf wrote in his column in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Nahar that in the 1967 Six Day War, Israel was able to defeat seven Arab armies because it had invested a great deal of effort in scientific and technological development. This, inter alia, he said, allowed it to to extend the range of its aircraft. He wrote:
"In a series of TV interviews – that are still being aired – that I gave about the 1967 [Six Day] War to media personality Mohammad Al-Mulla on his entertaining show [on YouTube], 'Diwan Al-Mullah,' I clarified that one of the important reasons that Israel was victorious against seven Arab armies in that war was the significance it had attributed to scientific research. This enabled it to increase the range of its planes so that they could cover all the Egyptian and Arab airports. They [the Israelis also] increased the effectiveness of their tanks and cannons, and properly defined the correct tire pressure for their vehicles and the [amount of] water required for a soldier in a war in summer in the desert, while more of our troops died of thirst in the Sinai Desert than were killed by gunfire. Technological advancement enabled it [Israel] to detect and record the secret conversation between [then-Egyptian president Gamal] Abdel Nasser and [Jordan's] King Hussein..."[5]
Lebanese Journalist: Israel Develops Weapons While The Arabs Are Busy Giving Weapons Poetic Names
Similarly, Lebanese journalist Samir Attallah wrote in his column in the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that since its establishment in 1948, Israel has understood that in order to guarantee its success in a sea of Arab countries, it must develop technological and scientific supremacy – and that this came as the Arabs were appealing to the Eastern Bloc for help. He wrote:
"From its first moments, Israel understood that the only solution for such a small country in a sea of Arabs is technological supremacy, and that lagging behind scientifically would mean its death. The situation in 1948 between the Europeans and the Eastern Bloc recurred in the wars that would come: Israel would appeal to science, while we [the Arabs] would appeal to the East. It would develop weapons while we gave weapons poetic names like 'Al-Zhafar [The Victor]' and 'Al-Qaher [The Victor]'...
"Following the terrible events in Lebanon, concerns regarding a war of missiles have turned into concerns regarding a war of cellphones and pagers. Taiwan manufactures pagers, and Israel injects them with a few milligrams of explosives, and then it does it again, and it can do this yet again in the future, in a way that will be much more lethal and criminal. Meanwhile, Houthi missiles are landing in an open field in Tel Aviv. How did that [Houthi] missile find an open field in a crowded city like Tel Aviv? This is the skill of discovering what is hidden..."[6]
Palestinian Journalist: A Crushing Defeat Of Israel Is Not A Viable Option; We Are A Non-Manufacturing Nation That Relies On Others
In his column in the London-based Qatari daily Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Palestinian journalist Osama Abu-Irshaid, who resides in Washington, D.C., wrote that Israel's military and technological supremacy is indisputable, to the extent that it cannot be defeated. He further admonished those who gloated over Hizbullah's setback following the pager attack, saying that the same was likely to happen to all the Arabs, in light of the fact that they develop nothing themselves and rely on weapons and technology from the West. He wrote:
"...Israel's technological advancements and its military supremacy cannot be disputed by Iran or Hizbullah, Hamas, or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or even by any Arab or non-Arab country in the region. This is an absolute fact, and only an idiot or an unrealistic person could disagree.
"Israel embodies the essence of the American and European qualitative supremacy in its weapon systems, its technological capabilities, its intelligence capabilities, and its capabilities in the spheres of cyber and espionage. It is part of a wide-ranging international system that possesses tremendous capacities that as yet have no global equivalent. In other words, whoever fights against Israel or opposes it is [in actuality] in confrontation with a Western imperialist plan and with its other allies. This doesn't mean that Israel cannot be broken here and there in [various] wars and stages, but that its crushing defeat is not a viable option...
"Those who gloat [today about the blow to Hizbullah] are ignoring the fact that the mobile phone or computer via which they are disseminating their schadenfreude are the products of countries through which Israel was able to infiltrate and booby-trap the Hizbullah communications networks... The mobile phones we all have, our smart TVs, and our smart fridges and such are mostly the products of those who attack us. What assurance [do we have] that the communication devices in Arab countries, the cars there – including those belonging to senior officials – and the commercial airliners will not be hacked and controlled remotely? Who can guarantee that those who produced and sold us weapons and warplanes are incapable of neutralizing them, or even destroying and detonating them, by means of malware planted within them?
"If so, the matter does not concern only Hizbullah... And thus we face a clear and harsh truth: We, the Arabs and the Muslims, do not produce most of our weapons, and for most of our technological needs, we rely on others, whether in the U.S. or in Europe, in China, in Taiwan, or in South Korea...
"We must be honest: We are a nation that does not produce its own weapons or develop technology tailored to it[s needs] – and most [of our people] don't even work the land, such that they don't produce their own food and also don't sew their own clothing. And then some of us are busy condemning the others for how they were exposed and can be infiltrated, while all of us are exposed and can be infiltrated. What is even worse is that we are incapable of understanding that we are all in the same boat that someone is trying to sink, as we argue over who will take the wheel to lead [us] to the unknown, or to the bottom."[7]
[1] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 11568, Following Hizbullah Pager Explosions, Arabs On Social Media Slam The Organization And Celebrate Its Misfortune, September 18, 2024.
[2] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), September 19, 2024.
[3] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), September 18, 2024.
[4] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), September 19, 2024.
[5] Al-Nahar (Kuwait), September 22, 2024.
[6] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), September 20, 2024.
[7] Alaraby.co.uk, September 20, 2024.
