The Israeli foreign intelligence agency Mossad has been monitoring the slain leader of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah since several years and had numerous opportunities to liquidate it. However, Israel has refrained to prevent his death from sparking a war not only with Hezbollah, but also with Iran, the terrorist group's main ally.
According to an article in The Washington Post, Israel has been "closely monitoring Nasrallah's movements", gathering information on his movements and activities.
On several occasions the Mossad managed to detect it accurately, but the Israeli high command, after weighing the possible consequences, decided not to act, prioritizing regional stability and avoiding an escalation that would affect both Israel and Lebanon, he said news.bg.
In addition to monitoring Nasrallah, Israel is conducting one of the most sophisticated intelligence operations against "Hezbollah". Two years ago, the terrorist group acquired 5,000 Apollo pagers manufactured by a Taiwanese company confident that these devices were secure and undetectable by Israeli intelligence.
However, these devices were assembled in Israel with an ulterior motive: to set off remote-controlled explosions. On September 17, thousands of these devices detonated simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria, killing and maiming up to 3,000 Hezbollah fighters, according to Israeli and US sources.
This attack not only significantly weakened Hezbollah, but also sent a clear message to Iran: Israel has the ability to conduct large-scale covert operations whenever it deems necessary. In response, Iran fired about 180 missiles at Israel, warning it could increase attacks if the conflict continued to escalate.
Newspaper "Washington Post" clarifies that details of these operations were gathered from interviews with Israeli, Arab and American security officials, in addition to politicians and diplomats briefed on the events.
Also involved were Lebanese officials and people close to Hezbollah, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the confidential nature of the information. According to these sources, the plan was conceived at Mossad headquarters in Tel Aviv, with agents and collaborators from several countries participating during the years of preparation.
In a strike on September 27, however, Israel liquidated the leader of "Hezbollah" Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, and on the night of October 1 announced the beginning of a ground operation in the border areas of southern Lebanon.