Nasrallah's assassination: How did Israel target the Hezbollah chief hiding 60 feet underground?

By News Update On Sep 29, 2024

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was killed in a targeted airstrike by the Israeli Air Force on Friday. The precision operation, which involved coordination with multiple intelligence agencies, took place as Nasrallah and other top leaders of the Iran-backed group gathered at a command headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon.

The attack came barely a week after Israel fatally detonated hundreds of bomb-tainted pagers and radios. In a series of rapid strikes, Israel eliminated half of Hezbollah's leadership council and crushed its top military command. This latest operation is a major blow to the leadership of the Iran-backed group. But how did Israel penetrate so deeply into the Hezbollah bunker?

How Israel killed Hezbollah chief Nasrallah hiding in a bunker

The New York Times quoted three senior Israeli defense officials as saying that Israel had known about the whereabouts of Hezbollah leader Nasrallah for months before the attack.

In a statement released after the attack, the head of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), Herzi Halevi, said that a precision strike was carried out, resulting in the elimination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. He said the operation took place at Hezbollah's underground headquarters in the center of Beirut along with other senior officials of the organization.

The bunker where the leaders were meeting was more than 60 feet underground in a busy area of southern Beirut, the Wall Street Journal reported. The leaders came together to discuss how to take action against Israel, as Iran was preventing them from responding aggressively.

Just a day before the attack, a source familiar with Israeli strategy told the new agency Reuters that Israel had spent 20 years gathering intelligence about Hezbollah and that they could attack it whenever they wanted, even at their headquarters. Can target Nasrallah. The report also noted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and people close to him authorized the attack on Wednesday, which led to the attack occurring while Netanyahu was addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

80 tons of bombs were dropped on a 60 feet deep bunker.
In one of the largest urban bombings in recent history, approximately 80 tons of explosives were used to target a heavily fortified bunker located more than 60 feet underground. Along with the arsenal of missiles, electronic equipment of the terrorist group was also destroyed in the attack. It took months to plan specific strategies designed to penetrate underground defenses.

Israeli forces used a series of timed explosions to penetrate the bunker's underground defenses. “We had received real-time intelligence that Nasrallah was meeting with a number of senior militants,” Israeli military spokesman Nadav Shoshani told the WSJ.

Benjamin Netanyahu's bold address at the United Nations
Prime Minister Netanyahu was attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York when he authorized the order to assassinate the Hezbollah chief. Netanyahu was condemning terrorism during his UN speech.

The timing of the incident has raised concerns that US officials were not aware of the bold plan, complicating ongoing ceasefire efforts in the region.

Hassan Nasrallah, whom Israel has long accused of carrying out deadly attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets, had been on their kill list for decades. His killing is the most significant targeted killing by Israel in years, dramatically escalating the conflict in the Middle East.

In his first public statement after the attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu highlighted that eliminating Nasrallah was essential to 'achieving our goals', describing him as “not just another terrorist, but a terrorist”.