Israel killed one of its sworn enemies on Friday: Hassan Nasrallah. The leader of Hezbollah died during a powerful bombing in the suburbs of Beirut which crowned several years of espionage work. Here is how the Jewish state mobilized its intelligence resources to carry out this operation.
Hezbollah began firing rockets at northern Israel on October 8, 2023, saying it was acting in support of its ally Hamas, at war against Israel in the Gaza Strip since October 7, the day of its unprecedented attack on Israeli soil.
Cross-border clashes between Israel and the Lebanese Islamist movement, which have lasted for almost a year, have escalated after the spectacular attack using booby traps and walkie-talkies which targeted members of Hezbollah in Lebanon in mid-September. , leaving 39 dead. Analysts say the attacks, which were not claimed by Israel, reflect the considerable progress made by military unit 8200, responsible for signals intelligence and cyberwarfare, in penetrating Hezbollah’s communications devices. .
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli army spokesman, said Friday that the intelligence gathering that led to Nasrallah’s elimination dates back several years. “We had real-time information and we carried out this strike.”
This “shows the depth of intelligence infiltration into Hezbollah spheres,” notes Miri Eisen, retired colonel and researcher at the Israeli International Counterterrorism Institute at Reichman University in Herzliya, Israel. stressing that the attack was the result of long-term work.
According to Israeli officials, Nasrallah and other Hezbollah leaders met Friday at the movement’s “headquarters” in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Army video shows F-15 fighter-bombers taking off from Hatzerim Air Base to carry out the operation. Shortly before 6:30 p.m., powerful explosions were heard throughout Beirut. According to the Wall Street JournalIsrael spent months planning to use a “series of planned explosions” to reach the bunker beneath the apartment buildings.
The Hezbollah meeting also coincided with the United Nations General Assembly, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was present. His office later released a photo showing him approving the strike, a decision said to have been made “in his hotel in New York,” according to the daily. Times of Israël.
Our file on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
According to the New York Timesanalysis of an army video indicates that the planes involved in the attack were “equipped with at least 15 bombs” of around 900 kg each. Senior officials told the newspaper that “more than 80 bombs were dropped over a period of several minutes to kill” Nasrallah, the Wall Street Journal telling him that the bunker had been hit with “80 tons of bombs”.
- Towards a general conflagration of the region?
It remains to be seen what the consequences of this assassination will be for the region. Iran has already promised to avenge the death of the leader of Hezbollah, its ally. And on Saturday, the Israeli military released a transcript quoting the commander of the squadron that struck Nasrallah: “We will reach everyone, everywhere.”
