Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah has been under surveillance by Israel for months. The decision to attack was made because there was a fear that he would change his place of residence – wrote the American “The New York Times” on Saturday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not want to warn the US about the strike because he was afraid that they would try to prevent it, added the Israeli station Channel 12.
During Friday's raid on the southern suburbs of the capital Lebanon Israeli planes dropped 80 bombs in Beirut in a few minutes, added “NYT”, citing two senior officials of the Israeli Ministry of Defense.
The Israeli army said after the attack that airstrikes had struck Hezbollah's headquarters built under residential buildings in the Dahiye neighborhood. Several of them collapsed. According to the Ministry of Health, at least 11 people were killed and 108 injured. Along with Nasrallah, several other senior Hezbollah commanders were killed, including Ali Karaki, who led the group's operations in southern Lebanon.
Government Israel had been discussing the attack since the beginning of the week, but the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the final decision just before the raid, while he was in New York, Israel's Channel 12 reported on Saturday. The prime minister authorized the operation and then went to the headquarters UNto deliver a speech during a session of the General Assembly. After striking Beirut, he cut his visit short USA and immediately returned to Israel.
The Prime Minister decided on the attack after consultations with Defense Minister Joav Galant, who urged him to agree to the strike; This decision was also supported by the heads of the Mossad and the Shin Bet security service, David Barnea and Ronen Bar, the station added.
The Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, General Herci Halewi, was to inform Galant on Friday afternoon that “Nasrallah is in the bunker and the operation can be started.” The Minister of Defense called the Prime Minister and asked for permission to attack. The decision to attack was made because there was a fear that the Hezbollah leader would change his place of residence – wrote “The New York Times”.
Hasan NasrallahEPA/WAEL HAMZEH
US officials angry
Channel 12 noted that Netanyahu, while discussing the attack with his own ministers, was also talking to US representatives about a possible ceasefire. American and French diplomats publicly announced the plan to stop fighting on Thursday, saying Netanyahu had tentatively agreed to it.
American officials were angered by the Israelis' attitude and felt cheated, the station reported. Galant called his US counterpart Lloyd Austinbut after the operation had started, which “can hardly be considered an advance warning,” the spokeswoman said on Friday Pentagon Sabrina Singh.
Netanyahu did not want to inform the Americans in advance because he was afraid that the US would try to prevent the strike, Channel 12 reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Main photo source: EPA/WAEL HAMZEH