Pre-emptive strike: Iran planned to surround and destroy Israel — Reuters

Iran was planning a large-scale campaign of terror against Israel, which was the reason for the attacks on Hezbollah and its leader Hassan Nasrallah. It is reported by Reuters with reference to a senior Israeli official.

By striking Hezbollah and its leader, Israel pursued two goals, the official said. The short—term goal is to avoid a ground offensive in Lebanon, which would have to be undertaken. The long—term goal is to disrupt Iran's large-scale terrorist plan, in which Nasrallah played a key role.

Iran planned to surround Israel with terrorist organizations and use them to destroy the Jewish state, the source said. Their joint attack was planned for 2040, but Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar decided to attack much earlier, on October 7, 2023. The rest, including Hezbollah, were not ready yet, the official said. Despite the above plans, Israel did not start an all—out war with Hezbollah in order to avoid a direct confrontation with Iran, but limited itself to eliminating Nasrallah - this should "break the core" of the terrorist group, the source stressed.

"For some people, there is simply no substitute. And here we have one of these cases, there is no doubt about it," he said.

The entire leadership of Hezbollah, according to the IDF, died as a result of the attacks of the last week. Israel hopes that the death of Hassan Nasrallah and other commanders will force Hezbollah to stop shelling Israeli territories, which have been going on for almost a year. When asked about the cease-fire, the official replied: "We are definitely closer [to that] than before."