Beirut, Lebanon. The Israeli military claims to have killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Iranian sources, however, say Nasrallah is alive and in a safe place. The following day, Hezbollah also admits Nasrallah’s death. He was killed in a “targeted attack” along with 20 other senior members of the Lebanon-based group, including Ali Karaki, the commander of Hezbollah’s southern front. The IDF says the attack was carried out against the militant group’s headquarters in Dahieh, a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut. They were in a bunker 30 meters beneath a residential area. Israeli fighter jets launched around 100 penetrating bombs to reach the bunker. At least two buildings partially or completely collapsed due to the explosions. Hezbollah, considered a terrorist organization by the United Kingdom, the United States, and others, is more than a militia. It is also a political party, with representation in the Lebanese parliament and part of the government. It has a significant support base and is part of Lebanese society. And Hezbollah’s support from its Iranian ally is unwavering. In Israel, however, the killing of Hassan Nasrallah will be seen as a major victory. For more than 30 years, he has been the beating heart of Hezbollah. With the help of his close allies in Iran, he transformed Hezbollah into a fighting force that in 2000 forced Israel to end a twenty-year occupation of southern Lebanon. In 2006, he led Hezbollah as it fought Israel until it was finally blocked. Nasrallah has been Israel’s greatest enemy: in recent years, only Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of Hamas’s attack on Israel in October last year, has come close. Against the wishes of its American allies, Israel has begun fighting Hezbollah after nearly a year of exhausting border warfare. In recent weeks, Israel has activated a war plan it has been working on since the end of the last war with Hezbollah in 2006. The September 27 raid was conducted by F-15s from Squadron 69, the Hammers, which had already destroyed a Syrian reactor in 2007. The bombing leveled several buildings, likely using bunker-busting bombs (such as the American BLU-109, a 1-ton bomb with 242 kg of explosives), which dug gigantic craters and caused at least 11 deaths and 108 injuries. Designed to destroy protected structures (even concrete ones), they penetrate the target up to 30m underground (or 4 to 6m in concrete) and explode “inside” thanks to various systems, with a limited explosive charge compared to other devices of similar mass.
