- Israel kills Nasrallah in Beirut airstrike
- Intelligence breach tracks Hezbollah’s secret meeting
- Bombs target Nasrallah’s underground bunker
In a devastating airstrike on Friday evening, Israel used approximately 100 munitions, including U.S.-made 2,000lb bombs, to kill Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. The strike targeted an underground bunker in the Dahieh suburb of southern Beirut.
Nasrallah, who was famously cautious about his security and rarely appeared in public, made an unplanned trip to the secret meeting location. However, Israel’s deep intelligence penetration of Hezbollah allowed them to track Nasrallah’s movements and deliver the deadly strike.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in New York at the time for the UN General Assembly, reportedly gave permission for the attack. With time running out, Israel proceeded with the operation. French newspaper Le Parisien reported, though unconfirmed, that an Iranian mole provided the critical intelligence. Iran, notably, is Hezbollah’s main supporter.
Reports suggest Israel had been monitoring the location for some time. The commander of Israel’s 69th Squadron, Lt Col M, revealed that aircrews had been preparing for days, though they were only informed of the target hours before the strike. The F-15I jets, equipped with 2,000lb BLU-109 bombs, were designed to penetrate underground bunkers and destroy surface structures.
A video released by the Israel Defense Forces showed eight U.S.-made F-15Is taking off, armed with missiles. The Biden administration had previously withheld such bombs over concerns about their use in densely populated areas like Gaza.
Justin Bronk, an aviation expert from the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), explained that the bombs used likely had penetrating fuses, designed to explode only after hitting the ground or buildings. During the attack, named Operation New Order, Israeli jets reportedly dropped bombs every two seconds. Four buildings were destroyed, and two others were damaged.
Initial ground estimates indicated that up to 300 people were killed, though Lebanon’s official count recorded 11 dead and 108 wounded. Israel claimed over 20 Hezbollah members were killed, justifying the strike by stating that Nasrallah had intentionally placed Hezbollah’s central headquarters beneath residential buildings in Dahieh.
Brig Gen Amichai Levine, the commander of the Hatzerim airbase, detailed the two key challenges of such operations: precise intelligence and preventing the target from escaping. According to Levine, there was a risk that Nasrallah might have been warned before the jets reached their target.
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A crucial question remains as to why Nasrallah felt the need to meet Hezbollah members in person. Israel had recently ramped up its offensive against Hezbollah with sabotaged communications devices and targeted airstrikes, which may have injured as many as 1,500 Hezbollah members. Nasrallah’s mistrust of trackable mobile phones likely prompted a face-to-face meeting.
Israel’s recent actions, including Nasrallah’s assassination, are part of a larger plan to dismantle Hezbollah’s military leadership. However, this effort has resulted in heavy civilian casualties and mass displacement, with a reported million people uprooted and several hundred killed. Despite this, Israel sees the operations as necessary to stop Hezbollah’s attacks and allow 65,000 displaced Israelis to return to the northern border.
Matthew Savill, a military analyst at Rusi, noted that Israel’s success in infiltrating Hezbollah contrasts sharply with its failure to predict Hamas’s actions last year. Savill suggested that Israel may have concentrated on Lebanon and Iran at the expense of Gaza.
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