« Israel has been trying to penetrate the movement’s communication networks, » a senior Hamas official told Newsweek.
After two series of blasts in Lebanon and Syria were linked to exploding communications devices used by members of the Hezbollah movement, a senior Hamas official told Newsweek that Israel had repeatedly tried and failed to gain access to the Palestinian group’s communication network.
« Since the beginning of the aggression and before that, Israel has been trying to penetrate the movement’s communication networks », Hamas spokesperson and Political Bureau member Basem Naim told Newsweek, « but its failure so far to achieve its declared goals is evidence of its limited ability to cause harm. »
Naim also said that « Hamas has different communications systems » than its Lebanese ally.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declined Newsweek’s request for comment.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for what appeared to be at least two waves of detonations across parts of Lebanon and Syria that struck pagers on Tuesday and handheld radios and solar equipment on Wednesday, killing an estimated 32 people and injuring thousands. Among the wounded and dead were scores of Hezbollah members, as well as civilians, including medical workers and children.
The apparent attacks came amid the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip that is nearing its one-year mark, as well as violent clashes between the IDF and Hezbollah along the Israel-Lebanon border. Israel has threatened to conduct a ground offensive into Lebanon if Hezbollah did not withdraw from the border.
