How did the Israeli army manage to reach Hassan Nasrallah at Hezbollah's headquarters in Beirut?
The Israeli army announced on Saturday that it had eliminated Hezbollah’s number one, Hassan Nasrallah. Raphaël Jerusalmy, a former military intelligence officer of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), details the possibilities for Israeli services to be certain that the leader of the Shiite movement was on-site, in a bunker located beneath a residential area in the suburbs of Beirut.
The elimination of Hassan Nasrallah, announced by the IDF this Saturday, resembles a significant military victory for Israel over Lebanese Hezbollah. The head of the Islamist movement was killed during an Israeli airstrike that directly targeted him on Friday at the organization's headquarters in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
How did the Israeli army know that Nasrallah, whose residence and movements are kept ultra-secret, was present at the exact moment it launched its offensive? According to sources, leaders of the Hebrew state "had known for months where Hassan Nasrallah was, and the decision to hit him was made during this week because they believed they only had a short window of opportunity before the Hezbollah leader disappeared to another location."
80 bombs dropped in a matter of minutes
An order was therefore given on Friday evening to drop more than 80 bombs in just a few minutes to eliminate the leader of the Lebanese Shiite group, who was in an underground bunker "located under four residential buildings in a densely populated neighborhood in southern Beirut," "where he had just called a meeting of leaders."
For Raphaël Jerusalmy, the IDF must have relied on informants on the ground. "The speed at which they were able to confirm Hassan Nasrallah's death also confirms the presence of internal complicity. This operation, like that of the beepers, was possible because the IDF and the Mossad enjoyed internal complicity within Hezbollah."
An emergency meeting hastily convened by Israel
"The IDF does not trust images," continues the former Mossad officer. "They need a physical person to confirm that they saw the target enter the building to be struck. Hezbollah is probably infiltrated, either by a super Israeli agent or by a local agent who has a personal score to settle with Nasrallah. Many people did not like him. There is indeed paranoia within the organization as they seek to identify who is providing the Israelis with information to carry out these spectacular operations."
One or more "moles," as they are called in military jargon, could have given the green light to bomb the building in this residential area of Beirut. According to Raphaël Jerusalmy, Nasrallah's presence at Hezbollah's headquarters that Friday may have been orchestrated by Israel.
"He did not urgently meet at this location with senior Hezbollah command leaders and an Iranian general by chance. A false message was sent to the top Hezbollah command indicating that Israel was going to attack Beirut and invade Lebanon on the ground. Israel had done the same with the number two of Hamas. The principle was to draw Hassan Nasrallah out of his bunker," explains Raphaël Jerusalmy.
News Agencies