In a remarkable development, the Israeli army admitted to receiving large numbers of phone calls from within Lebanese territory, claiming that these calls effectively contributed to carrying out assassinations and targeting Hezbollah sites, in the midst of the current battle.
The Hebrew Channel 12 revealed in a report that thousands of Lebanese citizens contacted the Israeli security services, in response to leaflets dropped from the air by Unit 504, calling on residents to provide information about infrastructure locations and leadership elements in Hezbollah to the Israeli army.
The report explained that these leaflets, which were distributed through the Air Force in various regions of Lebanon, included direct calls for residents to cooperate with the Israeli army, which led to the flow of information described as “important,” and helped the Military Intelligence Division carry out a number of strikes and assassinations in the recent period.
Among the most prominent operations carried out based on this information was the assassination of Hezbollah’s “Southern Front” commander, Haj Youssef Ismail Hashem, who died last week after civilians located his whereabouts and reported him, according to the report. The Israeli army targeted the specified location, leading to his death.
This fact, as presented in the Israeli report, shows an increasing trend towards using psychological and intelligence tools in parallel with military operations, in an attempt to penetrate the environment supportive of the party.
However, this novel, with its meanings, raises sensitive questions inside Lebanon about the nature of these contacts, their circumstances, and the extent of their connection to the conditions of war and field pressure.
