Tip-off, 80 tonnes of explosives: How Nasrallah was killed in bunker 60 ft underground

It was an Iranian mole who tipped off Tel Aviv about the presence of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, leading the Israelis to drop 80 tonnes of special explosives that pierced through a fortified underground bunker in Beirut to kill the legendary insurgent last Friday (September 27), media reports say.

French newspaper La Parisien reported that the mole told the Israeli authorities that Nasrallah would be at Hezbollah’s underground headquarters to attend a meeting with several leaders of the Iranian-backed outfit.

Israeli gets intelligence

Israeli spokesperson Nadav Shoshani told The Wall Street Journal: “We had intelligence that Nasrallah was meeting with senior terrorists, and we acted accordingly.”

Israeli’s military and intelligence chiefs then got a hurried green signal from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was attending a United Nations meeting in New York, before carrying out a targeted strike that stunned both Tel Aviv’s friends and foes.

And to prevent an American veto of the move to kill Nasrallah as it happened in October last year, Israel alerted the Americans only after its air force planes were headed to southern Beirut, media reports say.

Also read: Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah’s death leaves Iran with a serious dilemma

Hezbollah admits death

The tip-off from the Iranian mole came only hours before Nasrallah was killed, the French daily said, quoting an unnamed security source in Lebanon.

After the killing on Friday, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said in a post on X: "Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorize the world."

Amid wailing on the streets of southern Lebanon, where the rebels hold sway, Hezbollah confirmed the death: " Nasrallah... has joined his great, immortal martyr comrades whom he led for about 30 years."

Bunker-buster bombs

According to the Times of Israel, the military used nearly 80 tonnes of explosives, including 85 specialised “bunker-buster” bombs designed to penetrate deep into fortified structures, to hit the Hezbollah chief.

These munitions were capable of piercing through up to 30 metres of earth or 6 metres of reinforced concrete.

“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 daily quoted the commander of the IAF's 69th Squadron as telling the media.

American-made weapons

The Wall Street Journal said the Friday strike targeted a heavily fortified bunker located over 60 feet underground where Nasrallah and his top lieutenants had gathered to discuss strategies against Israel.

The bombs used by Israel in the airstrike that killed top Nasrallah were American-made guided weapons, news agency Reuters quoted a US senator as saying.

According to Mark Kelly, chair of the Senate Armed Services Airland Subcommittee, 900-kg Mark 84 series bombs, popularly known as bunker-busters, pounded the Hezbollah headquarters last week.

Also read: Lebanon pager blasts: Norway issues search request for Kerala-born Rinson Jose

Intelligence against Hezbollah

The New York Times said Israel's recent successes against Hezbollah follow its decision to devote far more intelligence resources to target the group after the 2006 war with it ended in a stalemate.

Since then, Israel has deployed a lot of resources to collect information about Hezbollah's leadership and strategy.

Unit 8200, Israel's signals intelligence agency, built cutting-edge cyber tools to better intercept Hezbollah's mobile phones and other communications, the Times said.

Pagers, walkie-talkies exploded

New teams were created within combat ranks to ensure that valuable information was quickly passed on to soldiers and the air force, it added.

This is how Israel – although it has not claimed responsibility – detonated explosive-laden pagers and hand-held radios with Hezbollah fighters before Nasrallah’s killing, leaving 37 people dead and wounding nearly 3,000 people over two days.

Israel vows to pursue campaign

The pagers had been booby-trapped, with an unsuspecting Hezbollah buying them from European companies that fronted for Israel.

Israel has vowed to continue its military operations against Hezbollah until the group ceases its attacks.