New Delhi, June 29 -- A few months ago, Hezbollah's operatives in Lebanon experienced something surreal-their pagers exploded. The next day, their walkie-talkies did the same. Israel, at first, said nothing officially. But later, it admitted what everyone already suspected: that its intelligence agency Mossad had orchestrated it.

Israel managed to plant small explosives inside Hezbollah's pagers and walkie-talkies, possibly by creating a shell company that made these devices. A transmitted code then triggered blasts in thousands of devices, killing or maiming Hezbollah fighters and an unknown number of civilians. Israel seized this moment of chaos to launch a military air offensive, effectively decapitating the once-formidable militia th...