Israel's spy agency disclosed information in a phone call about Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr's plans to marry four of his mistresses, according to a report.
new york times reported this week About the investigation into how deeply Israeli spies penetrated Hezbollah leading up to the assassination of its leader Hassan Nasrallah and other commanders of the Iranian-backed terrorist organization.
In July, Israel announced that its forces had killed Shukr in a then-rarely provocative attack in Beirut.
This was in response to Israel's assessment that a Hezbollah commander was behind a rocket attack that killed 12 people, including schoolchildren, in the town of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights several days earlier. .
The United States has also long accused Shukur of orchestrating and planning the 1983 bombing of a Marine barracks in Lebanon that killed 241 U.S. service members.
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Hezbollah fighters and mourners attend the funeral of Supreme Commander Fuad Shukr, who was killed in the southern suburbs of Beirut on August 1, 2024. (Fadel Itani/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The Times said that prior to the attack that killed Shukr, Israeli intelligence had identified four of his lovers.
Mr. Shukr, apparently concerned about his situation, said earlier this year that he asked one of Hezbollah's top clerics, Hashem Saffieddin, for help in marrying off four women, Israeli officials said. two European officials told The Times.
Mr Saffieddin reportedly arranged four weddings, this time over the phone.
The intimate and sometimes mundane details of Mr. Shukr's personal affairs demonstrate how closely Israeli intelligence has been able to track the movements of the Hezbollah leadership.
Cheers as Hezbollah leader Saeed Hassan Nasrallah speaks via video link during a ceremony marking one week since the killing of Hezbollah supreme commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut, Lebanon, on August 6, 2024. Supporter. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
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In addition to tracking meetings with mistresses, the Times report reveals how Israel's spy agency recruited personnel within the terrorist group to install wiretapping devices in underground bunkers, revealing the location of their hideouts. did.
Following years of pager attacks orchestrated by Israel's Mossad and an escalation of attacks that killed Hezbollah leaders, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally stopped on his way to New York to speak at the United Nations General Assembly. ordered the killing of Nasrallah. , according to the Times. Nasrallah, who led Hezbollah for the past 30 years, was killed on September 27 in an Israeli airstrike that destroyed six Beirut apartment buildings.
The Times reported that Prime Minister Nasrallah ignored warnings from his superiors to relocate from a 40-foot Hezbollah bunker before the attack.
A demonstrator holds flowers as he stands in front of a giant banner depicting Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut days earlier, in Tehran, Iran, on September 30, 2024. (Morteza Nicobazul/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Unaware that organized Israeli intelligence had clear visibility into his every move, he apparently believed that the Jewish state had no interest in an all-out war with Hezbollah.
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Shortly after, Israeli F-15 jets dropped thousands of pounds of explosives to destroy the bunker, and Mr. Nasrallah was found underground in an embrace with an Iranian general based in Lebanon. He reportedly died of suffocation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
