Why did Israel blow up the radio now and why did it hide the details of the operation from the US?

The Israelis decided to blow up bombers carrying Hezbollah members in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday because they suspected the Shiite paramilitary group might have discovered the covert operation, three US officials told Axios.

The attack came amid rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah that have sparked international concern as many believe it could escalate into all-out war.

"Either they would do it now or they would lose the opportunity," a US official said when asked why Israel chose this particular time for the attack.

A former Israeli official with knowledge of the operation told Axios that Israeli intelligence planned to use the stranded bombers they managed to plant in Hezbollah's ranks as a surprise first strike in an all-out war aimed at "crippling Hezbollah."

But in recent days, concern had grown among Israeli leaders that Hezbollah could detect explosives in newly purchased radios. Benjamin Netanyahu, his senior ministers and the heads of the Israel Defense Forces and intelligence agencies have therefore decided to use the system now rather than risk detection.

The first report of Israeli concerns that led to the decision to detonate the explosives came from Al-Monitor, which reported that two Hezbollah officials had expressed suspicions about the radio receivers in recent days.

When President Joe Biden's senior adviser Amos Hochstein visited Israel on Monday, Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallad and other senior officials held several hours of security consultations about the exposure risks of the operation. "When they met with Hochstein, they didn't tell him anything about what was going on behind the scenes," a US official said.

On Tuesday afternoon, minutes before the detonators were to go off, Gallant called US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and told him that Israel would soon launch an operation in Lebanon, but declined to give specific details.

A US official said the Israelis had not briefed the US on the details of the operation, but added that Galland's call was an effort not to keep the US completely in the dark.