A source within the terrorist organization told 'Al-Monitor' that Aqil and his men met to plan 'a ground operation in the heart of the occupied territories.' The operation was intended as a response to the pager explosions.
Terror group says attacks are retaliation for the pager explosions that injured thousands of its members. Repeated volleys on northern Israel also target sensitive electronics manufacturing facility near Haifa.
Military officials warn that the group may attempt to salvage its reputation through propaganda and disinformation campaigns following recent setbacks. Netanyahu warns, "If Hezbollah hasn't understood the message, I promise you – they will."
The rocket attacks on Monday triggered alerts in the Upper and Lower Galilee, Safed, and areas surrounding the Sea of Galilee, resulting in one direct hit in Givat Avni and several people suffering minor wounds. For the first time, the Samaria region has also come under attack. The northern airspace closed for commercial traffic through the end of September. This surge in hostilities comes as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) dramatically intensified its strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, hitting hundreds of sites in a bid to neutralize threats to Israel's northern communities.
Ibrahim Aqil, who is known as Tahsin, and is a principal member of Hezbollah's Islamic Jihad Organization, was eliminated along with the elite Radwan Unit's chain of command. .
According to the intelligence source, the planning for the attack involved the use of shell companies, with multiple layers of Israeli intelligence officers and their assets fronting a legitimate company that produced the pagers.
Terror chief admits 'unprecedented blow' to Hezbollah, claims 4,000 devices detonated simultaneously in alleged Israeli operation, while vowing retaliation.
According to reports, devices also include Walkie-Talkie style radios and other communication gadgets. Some explosions took place during the funeral of the son of Hezbollah parliament member Ali Ammar, who was killed during the massive pager explosions that took place in Lebanon on Tuesday.
The report indicates that Israel had initially planned to use the weaponized pagers only during a full-scale conflict. But Hezbollah operatives apparently compromised the operation when they saw something was off, forcing Israel to act quickly.
More than 200 suffer severe injuries as communication pagers unexpectedly detonate in Hezbollah operatives' pockets. Hezbollah says this is "the biggest intelligence breach yet" as pagers were reportedly latest model and were only recently imported. Iran-backed terrorist group says, "We will respond from an unexpected place."