The extraordinary attacks on Hezbollah this week, in which thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies exploded over two days, was a stunning coup for Israel’s spy agency and a humiliating setback for the Lebanese militants and their Iranian patrons, Western officials and former intelligence officers say.

But the attacks, which Lebanese authorities said killed more than 30 people over two days while wounding thousands, are only the latest in a decadeslong history of audacious covert operations…