Hezbollah was already on guard since the simultaneous explosions of hundreds of booby-trapped beepers 37 dead and more than 2900 injureda week ago. But the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Hezbollah, in a strike on Friday September 27, is a bolt from the blue for the Lebanese Shiite movement, whose command has been largely decimated since a series of Israeli strikes that began last Monday. According to three senior Israeli defense officials interviewed by the New York Times“Israeli leaders had known for months where Hassan Nasrallah was” and decided to hit him before he changed location.
Netanyahu’s diversion at the UN
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his close circle of ministers authorized the attack on Wednesday, two Israeli officials told the Reuters news agency, as the former flew to New York for a speech at the ‘UN. “A brilliant maneuver of deception”, according to the Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post, aimed at “putting to sleep” the leaders of Hezbollah.
The daily also reports that security consultations took place throughout the flight to the United States, “with intelligence updates on the evolving situation in Lebanon.” On Thursday evening, “the Prime Minister managed the preparations from his hotel room in the United States, after consulting with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and Mossad Chief David Barnea.”
On Friday, around 10 a.m. Israel time, the prime minister held a new security consultation during which the green light for the attack was given, just before his speech to the UN. Planes dropped “dozens of bombs” on the Dahiya district of Beirut, according to the Jerusalem Post.
A probable infiltration
According to the sources of New York Times80 bombs were sent, which seems to confirm an analysis by the same newspaper of the video broadcast by the Israeli army, showing eight planes equipped with 15 bombs weighing 900 kilos. Images of the attack show the destruction of at least four seven-story buildings, according to the American daily. On Saturday, the Lebanese Ministry of Health reported that at least 33 people had been killed and more than 195 injured by the strikes. This Sunday, the Israeli army indicated that “more than 20 other terrorists” from Lebanese Hezbollah had died in the strike.
According to comments made by an anonymous security source to Reuters, the assassination suggests that Hassan Nasrallah’s movement was infiltrated by Israeli informants. “This is a major blow and an intelligence failure for Hezbollah,” Magnus Ranstorp, a Hezbollah expert at the Swedish Defense University, told Reuters.