Nasrallah’s Assassination: How Israel made the decision?
Shafaq News/ Israel has revealed behind-the-scenes details of its assassination of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, stating that the operation had a 99% success rate.
Nasrallah and several Hezbollah commanders were killed in a heavy Israeli airstrike on the party’s headquarters in Beirut’s southern suburb on Friday, September 27, 2024. He was later succeeded by Naim Qassem.
Decision Making
On the afternoon of September 20, Oded Basyuk, head of the Israeli army’s Operations Directorate, entered former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s office and told him, “Look, we have all the Radwan Force commanders and Ibrahim Aqil [Hezbollah Operations Commander] in one place,” as reported by Gallant in an interview with Israel’s Channel 12.
“This was followed by a tense two- to three-hour discussion, which ultimately led to the decision to proceed with the operation.”
80 Tons Instead of 40
“Nasrallah had been at the targeted site for days, and there were concerns he might leave at any moment,” Gallant pointed out.
The Sunday before the operation, the Chief of Staff, Air Force Commander, and others presented Gallant with the fully signed execution plan, including all relevant details. “I asked them about the success rate, and they said 90%. Then I asked how many tons of explosives they planned to drop, and they said 40. So I told them: go with the alternative—80 tons. Double the explosives to ensure a 99% success rate,” he noted.
Execution of the Assassination
The Israeli cabinet convened two days before the operation, where the Chief of Staff presented the assassination plan. However, when it was time to vote, Netanyahu abruptly halted the meeting, saying, “We are not ready to decide now. I will return from the United States on Sunday, and we will make the decision then,” according to Gallant.
On the morning of the assassination day, Friday, Gallant met with the Chief of Staff and decided that the final execution time would be 06:00 p.m. They then called the Prime Minister, who approved but allegedly requested a delay until 06:30 p.m. as he would be on the UN platform. “In the end, we reached a compromise at 06:20 p.m. At that moment, 84 bombs, each weighing a ton, were dropped on all designated targets, killing Nasrallah,” the former defense minister affirmed.
Notably, Gallant, along with Netanyahu, is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the Gaza war, which resulted in the deaths of over 47,000 people. This war prompted Hezbollah to engage in battle “in defense” of the Palestinian people, leading to an escalation that ultimately saw Israel killing more than 4000 people, including women and children.
