Hezbollah chief, Hassan Nasrallah has been killed in a targeted airstrike by the Israeli Air Force on Friday. The precision operation, which involved coordination with multiple intelligence agencies, took place as Nasrallah and other top leaders of the Iran-backed group were gathered in a Command HQ in Beirut, Lebanon.
The attack came barely a week after Israel’s deadly detonation of hundreds of booby-trapped pagers and radios. In a series of rapid strikes, Israel has wiped out half of Hezbollah’s leadership council and crushed its top military command. This latest operation marks a major blow to the Iran-backed group’s leadership. But how Israel infiltrated so deep into the Hezbollah bunker.
How Israel Killed Hezbollah Chief Nasrallah Hiding In A Bunker
Israel had been aware of the Hezbollah leader Nasrallah’s whereabouts for months before launching the strike, reported The New York Times citing three senior Israeli defense officials.
In a statement released after the strike, Chief of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), Herzi Helevi said that a precise strike was carried out, resulting in the elimination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. He added that the operation took place at Hezbollah’s underground headquarters in the heart of Beirut, along with other senior officials of the organisation.
The bunker where the leaders were meeting was over 60 feet underground in a busy neighborhood in southern Beirut, reported the Wall Street Journal. The leaders had come together to talk about how to act against Israel, as Iran was holding them back from responding aggressively.
Just a day before the strike, a source familiar with Israel’s strategy had told new agency Reuters, that Israel has spent 20 years gathering intelligence on Hezbollah and could target Nasrallah whenever they chose, even in his headquarters. The report also mentioned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his close circle authorized the attack on Wednesday, prompting the attack to happen while Netanyahu was in New York addressing the UN General Assembly.
80 Tons of Bombs Hit 60-Foot-Deep Bunker
In one of the largest urban bombings in recent history, around 80 tons of explosives were used to target a heavily fortified bunker located over 60 feet underground. The attack also dismantled the terror group’s electronic devices along with the arsenal of missiles. The specific strategies devised to breach the underground defences took months of planning.
Israeli forces employed a series of timed explosions to penetrate the bunker’s underground defenses. “We had real-time intelligence that Nasrallah was meeting with several senior militants,” Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoshani said to the WSJ.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s Bold Address At UN
PM Netanyahu was attending the UN General Assembly in New York when he authorised the killing orders for Hezbollah chief. Netanyahu was condemning terrorism during his UN speech.
The timing of the incident has raised concerns as the US officials were not aware about this bold plan as this complicates the ongoing ceasefire efforts in the region.
Hassan Nasrallah, whom Israel has long blamed for deadly attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets, had been on their kill list for decades. His assassination marks Israel’s most significant targeted killing in years, dramatically escalating the conflict in the Middle East.
In his first public statement since the strike, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu highlighted that eliminating Nasrallah was necessary for ‘achieving our goals,’ describing him as “not just another terrorist, but the terrorist.”
