After an in-depth analysis based on a lot of Intelligence information about the presence of Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah and the rest of the terrorists in his bunker, we ordered the attack with dozens of anti-bunker munitions, reveals Israeli Lieutenant Colonel D., recalling one of the most significant actions in the war on several fronts that began after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
This officer, heading the army's Operations Section, followed the bombing from the underground command center located at the headquarters in Tel Aviv. The same place from where he gives an exclusive interview to EL MUNDO on the occasion of the second anniversary of the so-called 'Operation New Order' in which Israel destroyed one of its most feared and powerful enemies in recent decades, thus marking a turning point for the Shiite group (Party of God), Lebanon, Israel, Iran and the rest of the region.
It happened on September 27, 2024. At 6:21 p.m., F-15I fighters dropped 83 bombs to destroy Hezbollah's secret bunker located under a residential building in Dahiya, south of Beirut. At the time, Nasrallah was meeting with the commander in southern Lebanon, Ali Karaki, and a senior commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, General Abbas Nilforushan. All three died in the attack that included GBU-31 bombs against openings in the underground center built with the help of Iran.
"From the moment we received the golden information that they were in the bunker until the bombs came off the planes, only a few minutes passed. When we saw columns of smoke on the screens, we understood that we achieved what we had planned," he says, explaining the "sense of satisfaction" in the room: "We understood that the attack was lethal as it managed to neutralize dozens of Hezbollah troops, among them Nasrallah, which always set the goal of ensuring that the people and the State of Israel do not exist. It was the responsible for numerous actions that killed many Israeli civilians and soldiers as well as the kidnapping of soldiers. He greatly influenced the violence and terror in the region and was preparing new attacks against Israelis in Israel and abroad.
The function of this officer is to synchronize the actions of the army, Mossad and Shabak (internal security service) in operations that may be special or routine both near and far from their country. Nasrallah was about to take place on October 11, 2023. Three days before, Hezbollah joined the escalation by attacking northern Israel in support of Hamas and Gaza. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the military leadership recommended to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a surprise attack against Nasrallah and the entire military leadership of the pro-Iran group. The United States advised otherwise, fearing a war between Hezbollah and Israel and the regional expansion of the conflict. With the fighters waiting in the air, Netanyahu decided not to carry out the operation.
This was not bad news for Mossad chief David Barnea, as at the time he had failed to sell enough explosive beepers to Hezbollah. The explosion of pagers and walkie talkies took place on September 17 and 18, 2024 when the group had 10 times as many beepers. Nasrallah was left in shock and depression without knowing what awaited him 10 days later. He did not suspect, among other reasons, because that Friday Netanyahu was in New York for his speech at the UN General Assembly. The Israeli did not want to notify the US in advance for fear of its opposition or leak.
"Nasrallah knew that he was in our sights but he believed that he would not be attacked in his bunker that was difficult to penetrate and in a civilian environment. We attacked him precisely," the lieutenant colonel tells us, revealing the increase in information gathering about Nastrala after October 8, 2023. "At the moment he intervened in the war, we understood that it was a matter of time until we reached him. We followed him and waited. And when we confirmed his location, we were there. You have to be patient. Attack your enemy in the place where he thinks he is safest.
Minutes before the fighters took to the skies over Hezbollah's fiefdom in the Lebanese capital, several Mossad agents infiltrated the building where, several meters underground, Nasrallah was located. Their mission - placing devices to guide the bombs precisely - carried the risk of being hit by gunfire from the vigilantes or Israeli bombs. We asked the officer about it. "You can imagine all kinds of things. All I can tell you is, multiply everything you imagine and that's more or less what happened," he answers and adds: "If you want to carry out a quality operation, you have to think outside the box and find very creative solutions. In this case, that's what we did to make the attack very precise."
According to Israel, more than 20 Hezbollah operatives were killed in the bombing. The total death toll, according to Lebanese authorities, exceeded 30. "In planning the attack we sought to maximize the damage to the terrorists in the bunker and minimize the possible number of collateral damage (civilian deaths)," comments the officer.
Hezbollah announced that its admired leader joined "his fellow martyrs" and promised to "continue the holy war against the enemy and in support of Palestine." Nasrallah was the most decisive figure in the axis led by the Islamic Republic of Iran behind only the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Since 1992, the Shiite cleric took the reins of the group, which he turned into an influential party in Lebanon and a militia with an arsenal greater than that of many armies.
"Its neutralization shook Hezbollah and its decision-making, made it understand that it is penetrable and made our ground incursion into southern Lebanon days later less difficult. Nasrallah understood that he had made a mistake in attacking us after the 7-0," concludes the officer in the Israeli bunker in Tel Aviv from where the attack against the bunker in Beirut was directed.
