Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah and Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad, have a long history of covert operations using explosive devices for assassinations, sabotage, and psychological warfare against each other. These attacks often involved IEDs, vehicle-borne explosives, or incendiary devices placed in strategic locations.
Mossad’s Use of Explosive Devices against Hezbollah
Mossad has been known to carry out covert operations targeting Hezbollah leaders, weapon depots, supply chains, and military infrastructure using explosive devices. The explosive devices in many such cases were custom-made for the operation, focusing on accuracy and lethality. Mossad frequently incorporates advanced triggering mechanisms, such as remotely detonated bombs or devices triggered by proximity or motion. Magnetic car bombs, for example, have been used to attach explosives to moving vehicles. Mossad also has a history of collaborating with other intelligence agencies, like the CIA or MI6, to carry out complex operations leveraging Mossad’s expertise in explosives and the partner agencies’ intelligence, logistics, and coordination in the strikes.
Many of Mossad’s operations involve planting bombs in highly secure or unexpected locations, such as inside vehicles, buildings, or even industrial equipment, often involving intelligence gathering and careful planning. Over the years, Mossad has been linked to numerous high-profile operations using explosives to eliminate adversaries involved in terrorism or military operations against Israel. While Israel rarely claims responsibility for these acts, many have been attributed to Mossad because of the modus operandi and high-profile nature of the targets.
Mossad’s ability to incorporate cutting-edge technology into its operations has been a hallmark of its use of explosives. Devices are often small, sophisticated, and designed to detonate at the right moment with maximum effectiveness. They frequently use remote detonation techniques or rig everyday objects with explosives, such as mobile phones, cars, and even doors or packages.
Mossad has developed a sophisticated style of using explosives in covert operations, particularly for targeted assassinations. Mossad’s modus operandi involves precision, intelligence gathering, technological innovation, and strategic planning. One of Mossad’s signature tactics is the use of remotely detonated explosives which allows operatives to trigger the blast from a distance to reduce the risk of exposure or capture.
One of Mossad’s signature tactics is concealing explosives in cars, phones, pagers, packages, and even household items. Mossad’s use of disguises for their explosive devices ensures that targets often have no idea about what is going to happen till it is too late.
One such incident was the assassination of Yahya Ayyash, a top Hamas military leader and explosive expert involved in the planning and execution of several attacks against Israel. Ayyash was killed by the Israeli counterintelligence and counterespionage agency Shin Bet officially known as the Israel Security Agency (ISA) in 1996 using a mobile phone rigged with explosives. Ayyash known as “Engineer” because of his expertise in engineering explosive devices was a key figure in Hamas’s military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigade named after a Syrian Muslim preacher. Izz ad-Din al-Qassam’s primary goal was to end Israeli control over Palestinian territories, establish an Islamic state in Palestine, and oppose peaceful negotiations with Israel. Initially involved in guerrilla warfare, the Brigade later became known for high-profile suicide bombings and rocket attacks.
Yahya Ayyash (“The Engineer”) one of its key leaders was instrumental in shaping its tactics, particularly using sophisticated explosives. Under his leadership the Brigades designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union, and other countries was responsible for many suicide bombings, targeting Israeli civilians, buses, and public spaces as part of its strategy to damage Israel – psychologically and physically.
Born in 1966 in the West Bank village of Rafat, Ayyash studied electrical engineering at Birzeit University, where he acquired the knowledge of explosives. He joined Hamas after that and quickly rose through its ranks thanks to his bomb-making skills.
Ayyash masterminded numerous suicide bombings carried out by the military wing of Hamas targeting Israeli civilians and soldiers. Some of the most notable attacks planned and executed by him included:
• The 1994 Afula Bus bombing, killing eight people.
• The 1994 Hadera Bus bombing, killing five people.
• The 1995 Ramat Gan Bus bombing, which left six dead.
His modus-operandi of concealing explosives in everyday objects made him a prime target for the Israeli security agencies like Mossad and Shin Bet which managed to track him near the Gaza Strip on 5 January 1996 by rigging a mobile phone with explosives. The device was reportedly provided to him by a close associate. As soon as Ayyash answered the phone there was an explosion and he was killed instantly. Ayyash’s assassination sparked widespread retaliatory attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups who swore to take revenge. This led to a wave of suicide bombings in February and March 1996 that claimed dozens of lives in Israel. Yahya Ayyash remains a significant figure in Hamas’s history. His methods and ideology continue to inspire the Hamas supporters who adore him like a martyr.
Yahya Ayyash’s death marked a turning point in Israel’s efforts to target and neutralize key leaders of terrorist organizations like Hamas through precision assassinations.
Another such covert operation involved the killing of Imad Mughniyeh a senior Hezbollah military commander responsible for numerous high-profile attacks in the 1980s. Mughniyeh also referred to as “Hajj Radwan” is said to have been the master strategist behind several high-profile bombing attacks including:
- The 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, killed 241 US servicemen.
- The 1985 hijacking of TWA Flight 847, in which a U.S. Navy diver was killed.
- The 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires.
- The 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires.
Mughniyeh was killed in the Kafr Sousa district of Damascus on February 12, 2008, when a bomb planted in the headrest of his SUV exploded, killing him instantly. Although Israel has never officially confirmed its involvement in Mughniyeh’s assassination it is widely believed that it was a joint operation between the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, and the CIA which had been keeping track of Mughniyeh’s movements for the past many years. It is believed that the CIA provided logistical support and intelligence-sharing for the operation to seek revenge against Mughniyeh’s role behind attacks on American personnel and interests. This was one of Mossad’s most high-profile uses of explosives.
The killing of Imad Mughniyeh remains one of the most daring and high-profile assassinations carried out by Mossad. It demonstrated Israel’s ability to target enemies far beyond its borders. The assassination of Imad Mughniyeh marked a turning point in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
A few years down the line Imad Mughniyeh’s son Jihad Mughniyeh was killed in an airstrike by the Israeli Air Force. On January 18, 2015, an Israeli helicopter fired missiles at a convoy in the Quneitra region of Syria, near the Golan Heights, killing Jihad Mughniyeh and several other Hezbollah fighters, including Mohammad Issa, a senior Hezbollah commander, and an Iranian general from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Mohammad Ali Allahdadi. While the airstrike was carried out by the Israeli Air Force, Mossad is believed to have provided the intelligence that pinpointed the location of the convoy. Jihad Mughniyeh was being groomed to play a significant role in Hezbollah, following the assassination of his father, Imad Mughniyeh, who was one of the group’s top military commanders.
Other such proactive strikes carried out by Mossad include the assassination of Fathi Shaqaqi, the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in Malta by a motorcycle-borne hit squad and Ghazi Kanaan a former Syrian intelligence chief, Kanaan in what was made to pass off as a suicide.
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Hezbollah’s use of Explosive devices
Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group and political party, has frequently used a variety of rockets, artillery, and improvised explosive devices (IED) with advanced camouflage and trigger mechanisms against the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). Some of these devices known as Explosively Formed Penetrators (EFPs) – were designed to destroy Israeli tanks and penetrate armoured vehicles, particularly during the 2006 Lebanon War.
Hezbollah has also targeted Israeli operatives, facilities, and interests with explosive devices including the First Tyre Bombing on 11 November 1982, a suicide bomber drove a truck full of explosives into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) headquarters in Tyre, Lebanon killing 75 Israeli soldiers, border police, and Shin Bet agents. This was one of the first major suicide attacks against Israeli forces and marked the beginning of Hezbollah’s use of suicide bombings. Once again on 23 October 1983, another suicide attempt at the Israeli military headquarters in Tyre left 28 Israeli soldiers dead and many more injured. The bombing was much like the first one and was part of Hezbollah’s campaign to force Israeli troops out of southern Lebanon. Another bombing of the US Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon on 23 October 1983 resulted in the death of over 241 US servicemen (mostly Marines) and 58 French paratroopers. This attack was part of Hezbollah’s broader strategy to push foreign forces out of Lebanon and is considered one of the deadliest against American forces in the region.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Hezbollah frequently used suicide car bombings against the South Lebanon Army (SLA), a militia backed by Israel, and Israeli military convoys. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Hezbollah carried out numerous suicide car bombings against Israeli military convoys operating in southern Lebanon. One of the tactics used was planting suicide vehicles along roads frequently used by Israeli military units, waiting for convoys to pass before detonating the explosives. Hezbollah pioneered the use of vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs), often filling trucks with large quantities of explosives and driving them into military targets or barracks.
Hezbollah’s use of suicide bombings was not only intended to cause physical damage but also to serve as psychological warfare. The bombings, particularly those targeting Israeli forces and their allies, were designed to erode morale and pressure Israel into withdrawing from Lebanon.
While suicide bombings became less common in Hezbollah’s arsenal in later years, they were crucial to the group’s rise and the eventual Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.
Conclusion:
Hezbollah’s expertise in using explosive devices is marked by adaptability, technical sophistication, and the ability to use a wide range of explosive tactics, from IEDs and car bombs to advanced rocket systems. Supported by foreign allies like Iran, Hezbollah has developed a formidable capability in explosive warfare and evolved as a highly capable non-state military force in the region.
