Hezbollah hunts for security gaps, moles as it reels from brutal week

livemint.com:

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Hezbollah was scrambling Friday to recover from a week of blows delivered by Israel, including an unusually heavy series of airstrikes across southern Lebanon and attacks that caused electronic devices carried by thousands of the militant group’s members to explode virtually simultaneously across the country. The group is trying to determine whether any of its communications networks are safe as it searches for security gaps and hunts down the possibility of moles in the organization, people familiar with the matter said.

It must also contend with the risk of further blows as Israel steps up its efforts to end Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks that have forced the evacuation of more than 50,000 people from northern Israel—including the possibility of a wider war. Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant warned late Thursday that “the sequence of military actions will continue" as Israel shifts its focus to the north and brings in new troops. Top U.S.

military officials are increasingly worried that Israel could launch a ground offensive in Lebanon. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin canceled plans to travel beginning this weekend to Israel, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Many of Washington’s closest Arab allies and partners in the Middle East fear a possible Israeli invasion of Lebanon, according to Arab officials, who said it could trigger unrest across the region and an opportunity for extremist groups to harness that anger and regroup. On Friday, many of Hezbollah’s officials and members couldn’t immediately be reached on their mobile phones. One official said the group was struggling to regroup amid worries about the extent to which its communications infrastructure was compromised by