Israeli intelligence says 83 bombs used in Nasrallah assassination

ANBAR, Iraq — A senior Israeli intelligence official said Israeli aircraft dropped 83 bombs during the operation that killed Hezbollah’s former Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, with the same number of munitions later used in a strike against his potential successor. The official told an Israeli newspaper that Nasrallah had access to stronger shelters on the day of the attack but chose a deep underground bunker beneath a multi-story apartment building. The strike lasted several seconds, during which warplanes fired missiles to prevent those inside the bunker from escaping. The account was provided by a reserve colonel identified only as “S.”, who heads the “Nehhat Binjamin” unit in the Israeli Air Force and serves as a target bank director. He said Nasrallah spent much of his time above ground, living in a penthouse on the eighth floor of a building in a southern suburb of Lebanon, and descended to the bunker via a private elevator when needed. According to the same official, Israel’s Home Front Command rescue unit estimated that reaching a comparable destruction site would take six hours, and that any rescue attempt therefore needed to be blocked for roughly 12 hours following the strike.