Politics

Betrayed from within: how Israel thoroughly penetrated its enemy

Only with inside knowledge could Israel have killed so many senior figures from Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Iranian military. The axis of resistance needs to face facts: it is completely compromised

Ibrahim Amro/AFP

A billboard portrait of slain leaders Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas (L), Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani (C), and Hezbollah senior commander Fuad Shukr (R) on the main road near Beirut Airport on August 3, 2024.

Betrayed from within: how Israel thoroughly penetrated its enemy

Alia Mansour

last update on 05 Aug 2024

When all is said and done, when a smouldering and ruined Middle East is all that remains, one thing will be as clear as day: the depth of Israeli infiltration within the ‘resistance axis’ from Tehran to Beirut via Damascus was absolute.

The axis considers those who challenge their views and beliefs to be traitors, yet despite all their efforts, assassination after assassination means they can no longer deny it: the real traitors are within their own ranks.

Israeli successes in this ‘war’ would have been far more limited if sensitive knowledge and information gleaned only from the inner circles in Syria, Iran, and Lebanon did not find its way back to Tel Aviv so regularly and reliably.

Yet the assassination of Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran is far from the only instance of Israeli intelligence infiltration, likewise the killing of Hezbollah leader Fouad Shukr in a house in Beirut’s south.

To know where both men were within the same 12 hours period would have been impossible without Israel’s deep penetration of its enemies’ power centres.

Laid bare in Beirut

Fouad Shukr was a very prominent military figure in Hezbollah since its founding over 40 years ago. He stood accused by the United States of playing a pivotal role in the 1983 bombing of the US Marine Corps in Beirut, which killed 241 American soldiers.

Washington had previously offered $5m for information leading to his capture and sanctioned him for assisting helping Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad kill tens of thousands of his own citizens but still had not found him.

The killing of Hamas's Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah leader Fouad Shukr in Beirut are far from the only instances of Israeli intelligence infiltration

Israel did, however, locating him and assassinating him with precision, proving that the Lebanese capital is no longer safe. Could it have done so without real-time knowledge from Hezbollah's tight inner circle?

Saleh Al-Arouri, deputy political head of Hamas, was assassinated in January when his office in the southern suburb of Beirut was hit. He was the key Hamas-Hezbollah link. Again, could Israel have killed him without the most sensitive and timely information?

Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters — Supporters of Hamas and Hezbollah shout slogans during a protest condemning the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah top commander Fuad Shukr, in Sidon, Lebanon, August 2, 2024.

There were but two. Since October 2023, when the gloves came off, Israel has carried out more than a dozen assassinations in Lebanon and Syria, targeting leaders and key military personnel from Hezbollah, Hamas, and Iran.

Sieve-like security

It is not known publicly whether Israel's information comes from human intelligence, signals intelligence, or a combination, but given how careful Hezbollah has been around its use of phones and the internet, human intelligence seems highly likely.

Of serious concern to the axis will be the sieve-like security of Iran, where Haniyeh was killed. His death is simply the latest in a series of Mossad operations there, with Iran's top nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh being among those targeted.

In 2018, Israel embarrassed Iran yet again by stealing thousands of documents from the country's closely guarded nuclear archive during a Mossad raid. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the spies took "half a tonne of documents".

Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP — A portrait of slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is displayed during a demonstration denouncing his killing and that of Hezbollah's senior commander, in the Lebanese coastal city of Sidon, on August 2, 2024.

In Syria as well, Israel has conducted dozens of military operations, targeting both personnel (from Hezbollah and Iran) but also shipments and stockpiles of weapons and ammunition, typically originating from Iran.

While some of these targets may have been identified through Israeli technological surveillance and eavesdropping, Israeli agents on the ground are a near certainty, feeding information back to Tel Aviv on the people and weapons they know.

The axis responds

Iran is worried about the leaks. When, a few weeks ago, Luna Al-Shibla—an advisor to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad—died in a car accident, there were claims that it was not an accident, after it was revealed that Al-Shibl leaked information that led to the consulate attack that killed several senior Iranian commanders.

While some targets may have been identified through Israeli surveillance and eavesdropping, Israeli agents on the ground are a near certainty

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah still sees those who disagree with him as a "traitor" or a "Zionist", but this tactic will do nothing to prevent the significant security breaches within Hezbollah's ranks and inner circles.

Oren Ziv/AFP — An Israeli Navy corvette patrols along the coast of the northern port city of Haifa on August 3, 2024. Israel expects a response to the killings.

Former head of intelligence in the Lebanese security forces Maj. Gen. Wissam Al-Hassan famously uncovered and dismantled more than 30 Israeli networks in Lebanon. He seems to have been too good at his job for someone and was assassinated in 2012.

Israel's penetration of their enemies' intelligence and security services pose a serious threat to those who have been compromised.

Optimists may have hoped that these killings would prompt Hezbollah to recognise the need for a strong Lebanese governance and capable security agencies. Alas, it is much more likely to double down on its destruction of whatever remains of the state.

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