- Netanyahu’s trip to New York was designed to “trick” Hassan Nasrallah, an Israeli official has said.
- His speech at the UN was part of a “diversionary plan,” the official told The Telegraph.
- Nasrallah, who was the leader of Hezbollah, was killed following an Israeli strike on Beirut on Friday.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent speech at the United Nations in New York was designed to “trick” Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, giving him a false sense of security, a senior Israeli official told The Telegraph.
The “diversionary plan” aimed to make Nasrallah think Israel would not carry out significant military action with Netanyahu away.
“Netanyahu approved the strike before delivering his speech at the UN,” the official said.
The Israel Defense Forces said on Saturday that Nasrallah, who had led Hezbollah since 1992, had been killed in a strike on Beirut on Friday.
The IDF said the strike targeted Hezbollah’s central headquarters, which it said the group had built under residential buildings.
It added that senior Hezbollah commanders were meeting there when the strike was carried out.
Hezbollah later confirmed Nasrallah’s death while vowing to continue its fight against Israel “in support of Gaza and Palestine, and in defense of Lebanon.”
Hezbollah has since confirmed that two other senior officers, Ali Karaki, the commander of the Southern Front, and Nabil Qaouk, the commander of Hezbollah’s Preventative Security Unit and a member of the group’s Executive Council, had also been killed in airstrikes.
During his UN address, Netanyahu said that Israel would “continue degrading Hezbollah until all our objectives are met.”
In a statement following the news of Nasrallah’s death, President Joe Biden said: “The United States fully supports Israel’s right to defend itself against Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and any other Iranian-supported terrorist groups.”
“Ultimately, our aim is to de-escalate the ongoing conflicts in both Gaza and Lebanon through diplomatic means,” he added.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, condemned Nasrallah’s killing in a series of statements on Saturday.
Khameini has since been moved to a secure location as Iran tightens security in the wake of Israel’s strikes on Lebanon, Reuters reported on Saturday, citing two unnamed regional officials briefed by Tehran.