McFate Quoted in Business Insider Article on the Detonation of Pagers Used by Hezbollah

September 20, 2024

Business Insider

Sean McFate

Maxwell in Washington, D.C.

Conflict

International Affairs

Middle East & North Africa

Terrorism & Extremism

Business Insider

Sean McFate

The recent attack in Lebanon, where hundreds of pagers used by the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah simultaneously detonated, points to a highly sophisticated operation that likely required months of planning and an infiltration of a global supply chain, according to experts.

Israel has not commented or claimed responsibility for the attack. U.S. and other officials who were briefed on the operation and who spoke on the condition of anonymity say that Israel was behind the attack.

If Israel was indeed behind the attack, as U.S. officials have said, then it comes as no surprise from a country that has already proven its technical prowess, says Sean McFate, adjunct professor in Maxwell's Washington programs. “Israel is a very tech-savvy state with its own ‘Wadi Valley,’ as they put it,” McFate says.

Read more in the Business Insider article, “ The detonation of pagers used by Hezbollah shows the depths of supply-chain infiltration.”