Israel knew of Nasrallah’s location for months, some ministers opposed hit — reports
Channel 12 says Netanyahu approved attack just before UN speech after days of discussions; also claims US, which had been in talks with Israel on ceasefire, was left feeling misled
Israel had known of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s location for months before launching the strike that killed him, three senior Israeli defense officials told The New York Times on Saturday.
The terror chief was killed Friday in an Israeli strike on Hezbollah’s underground headquarters in Beirut.
The decision to strike Nasrallah was made in recent days — and without apprising the US, according to an Israeli report — with Jerusalem fearing the window of opportunity to take him out would close, unnamed officials told the outlet.
Planning for the operation took place even as Israeli officials were involved in talks with the US on a potential pause in hostilities, and before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu departed to New York early Thursday morning to speak at the United Nations General Assembly, the report said.
Two of the officials said that over 80 bombs were dropped in the strike, which flattened six buildings in southern Beirut.
Hezbollah confirmed Saturday morning that Nasrallah had been killed, along with the terror group’s southern front commander, Ali Karaki, who had survived an Israeli hit attempt days earlier.
All three of the officials confirmed that Hashem Safieddine, a cousin of Nasrallah and his potential successor, was not at the underground Beirut bunker targeted in the strike.
Nasrallah was targeted by dozens of bunker-busting bombs dropped by Israeli Air Force fighter jets on Hezbollah’s main headquarters in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold known as the Dahiyeh.
Senior Israeli Air Force officials said Saturday the strike went smoothly with no errors or enemy fire on their warplanes.
“Everything we planned was executed precisely, with no errors, both in intelligence, the planning, with the planes, and the operation itself. Everything went smooth,” the commander of the IAF’s 69th Squadron told reporters. Military guidelines require the lieutenant colonel to only be identified by his first initial in Hebrew.
The 69th Squadron flies a fleet of F-15I fighter jets and is based at the Hatzerim Airbase in southern Israel. Half of the pilots who took part in the operation were reservists.
“We went to strike in the heart of Beirut, in the Dahiyeh. We knew who we wanted to target,” the commander added.
Brig. Gen. Amichai Levin, the commander of the Hatzerim Airbase, said the “very complex” mission was planned long in advance.
During the strike “no missiles were fired at the planes… and there was no danger to the crews,” he said.
“Dozens of munitions hit the target within seconds with very high precision, and this is part of what is required to hit underground sites at this depth,” Levin added.
He predicted the killing of Nasrallah would “ have a profound effect that will change the face of the Middle East.”
How it happened
According to Israel’s Channel 12 news, Netanyahu approved the strike shortly before he addressed the UN General Assembly in New York, which took place mere hours before the attack. The decision, which had been approved in principle by the cabinet on Thursday evening, was backed by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
A US official told The Times of Israel on Friday that Washington was only notified of the strike after its planes were already in the air and the operation was in motion.
At the same time Netanyahu was in discussions planning the strike, the US believed it was engaged in good faith negotiations with the premier and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer on a potential ceasefire in Lebanon after days of intense airstrikes there.
Once the hit on Nasrallah took place, the US was left with a feeling of having been misled, according to Channel 12.
The channel provided a run-down of what it said were days of consultations between Netanyahu, ministers and defense brass over the plan. It did not provide a source for the information, though anonymous leaks of internal cabinet discussions in Hebrew language media are common.
According to Channel 12, the plan came together on Monday, though it was only discussed Wednesday. An initial meeting with IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi, Mossad chief David Barnea, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and Gallant gave unanimous backing to the plan.
Later, however, some cabinet ministers came out against the move, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Both Smotrich, an outspoken hawk, and Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem were reportedly concerned it would harm the IDF’s ongoing activities in Gaza.
Nonetheless, the cabinet gave its conditional approval, and on Friday Halevi spoke with Gallant and reportedly told him, “We have what we need. We can go ahead with the operation. We know that Nasrallah is in the bunker.”
Gallant and Halevi phoned Netanyahu, who was set to speak soon at the General Assembly, and told him they recommended proceeding with the operation.
The prime minister said yes, and then headed to the UN, where he delivered a Friday morning speech that included passages denouncing and threatening Hezbollah, and warning Iran.
Barely an hour later, with the sun getting low in the Middle East, the IAF flew over Beirut and began dropping bombs.
It reported soon after that the operation had been a complete success.
Jacob Magid and agencies contributed to this report
