The recent airstrike that resulted in the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah stemmed from an extensive operation by Israeli intelligence that infiltrated his entire network. This enabled the identification of his underground command center situated in Beirut.

To execute the strike, the Israeli military deployed 80 tons of specially engineered bunker-busting bombs, successfully penetrating the heavily fortified refuge on Friday and eliminating Nasrallah, who had previously evaded several assassination attempts.

Nasrallah’s demise aligned perfectly with Israel’s objectives when it initiated its bombing campaign that day, as reported by the Financial Times.

Unbeknownst to Nasrallah, Israeli intelligence had meticulously tracked the movements of Hezbollah’s leadership through years of hacking and surveillance focused on the Lebanese terror organization, which is among the largest and best-equipped militias globally.

Following multiple failed attempts to eliminate Nasrallah during the 2006 conflict, Israel’s Military Intelligence Directorate (Aman) committed to penetrating Hezbollah’s defenses.

The turning point for Israel came in 2012 when the militant group sent its fighters to Syria to assist ally President Bashar al-Assad in suppressing a rebellion.

Former Israeli intelligence officials and Lebanese politicians informed the Financial Times that the Syrian conflict unveiled a wealth of information about the otherwise secretive terror organization, as Hezbollah consistently published details regarding its fallen fighters, which included personal data.

“They went from being highly disciplined and purists to someone who [when defending Assad] let in a lot more people than they should have,” stated Yezid Sayigh, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center.

“The complacency and arrogance was accompanied by a shift in its membership — they started to become flabby.”

This newfound intelligence allowed Israel to create detailed profiles of Hezbollah’s operatives, particularly the senior leaders who attended the funerals of their deceased fighters.

Focusing its efforts, Israel began hacking into the communication devices of the terror group, enabling spies to trace the precise movements of Hezbollah’s operatives — at times even through their spouses’ cell phones.

Moreover, Israel’s operatives monitored the movements of Hezbollah leaders by hacking into surveillance cameras throughout Lebanon and even tracking their cars’ odometers.

Consequently, Israeli officials noted that any deviation from the routine of the terror group signaled an impending attack.

This very pattern unfolded on Friday, as Israel launched its bombardment of Beirut, discovering that Nasrallah was on his way to his “command and control” bunker.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in New York for a speech at the United Nations when he approved the launch of the attack using Israel’s most effective weapon to eliminate Nasrallah.

The Jewish state had meticulously planned the operation for months, developing bombs equipped with timed detonations designed to penetrate deep into the earth, enabling the subsequent bomb to reach even greater depths, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

In contrast to the United States, which employs heavy bombers and massive 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs capable of destroying deeply buried bunkers, the Israeli military relies solely on fighter jets, thus limiting the size of the ordnance that can be carried.

The Israeli assault successfully reached Nasrallah’s hideout, located 60 feet underground.

While Hezbollah has not disclosed the specifics of Nasrallah’s death, Lebanese medical and security sources informed Reuters that he had no direct injuries and likely succumbed to the blunt force of the explosion, as his body was recovered intact on Sunday.

This strike was among the most significant ever witnessed in Beirut, collapsing six buildings and shaking the vicinity near the terrorist headquarters.

One of the affected buildings was a United Nations school situated approximately 173 feet from the structure where Nasrallah was located.

The Israel Defense Forces compared the situation to Hamas’ strategy of taking cover in civilian areas to utilize civilians as human shields.

Netanyahu described Nasrallah’s death as a “historic turning point” amidst the escalating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which poses the risk of full-scale war in the region.

“Nasrallah was not just another terrorist, he was the terrorist,” Netanyahu remarked. “As long as Nasrallah was alive, he would have quickly rebuilt the capabilities we took from Hezbollah.”

{Matzav.com Israel}