MOSCOW: An Iranian spy informed Israel of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s upcoming visit to the southern suburb of Beirut before he was killed in an airstrike, reported Sputnik, citing French newspaper Le Parisien on Sunday.
On Saturday, Hezbollah confirmed that Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut on Friday.
Israel was informed earlier on Friday about Nasrallah’s plans to visit the area shortly, the newspaper reported.
The airstrike that killed the leader is the largest since 2006, the source told Le Parisien.
Israel began a massive bombing campaign, codenamed Northern Arrows, in southern and eastern parts of Lebanon on Monday. The Lebanese Health Ministry put the death toll at over 1,500. Hezbollah retaliated by firing dozens of rockets towards northern Israel.
The escalation was preceded by a series of explosions of pagers and walkie-talkies that rocked Lebanon from Sept 17 to 18, killing about 40 people and injuring nearly 3,500 others.
The situation on the Israeli-Lebanese border worsened after the start of Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip in October 2023. – BERNAMA-SPUTNIK
