Inside the IDF Operations Branch: How the Strike on Nasrallah Was Orchestrated
The IDF Operations Branch details the complex behind-the-scenes coordination leading up to the historic elimination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and the pager explosions.
Almost two years have passed since that Friday at 18:20, when numerous Israeli Air Force aircraft dropped 83 tons of bombs in a strike that shook the Dahiyeh—the strike that eliminated Hassan Nasrallah in a bunker, after years of him mocking and provoking Israel. This was the most significant strike against Hassan Nasrallah. "The moment we understood he and the organization's leadership were in a location they perceived as protected, and the moment operational conditions matured, we launched a wide-scale strike with dozens of munitions," says Colonel D., head of the Operations Branch at the General Staff.
"When we saw the images of the explosion and smoke, there was an immense sense of meaning," he boasts. Shortly afterward, the scale of the operation—codenamed New Order—became clear: Nasrallah was killed in the strike alongside other senior figures in the organization, most notably Hezbollah's Southern Front commander Ali Karaki, and an Iranian general who was present at the site.
"Inside this headquarters was a significant portion of Hezbollah's senior command," the branch notes. "The one who tied his fate to Hamas's fate, after Hamas chose to carry out the abhorrent crime of October 7—to slaughter, rape, and murder—is Hassan Nasrallah, who stated repeatedly that without a ceasefire in Gaza, Hezbollah would not stop and there is a price for this: whoever tied his fate to Hamas and to Yahya Sinwar will likely end up the way Sinwar ended," the branch emphasizes.
The Long Arm of the Security Establishment
The elimination of Nasrallah is just one of the complex operations led by the Operations Branch. The soldiers serving here are entrusted with all special operations—from the intelligence gathering stage up to the operational forces. Sometimes the branch also acts as a liaison between the military and other security agencies such as the Shin Bet or the Mossad.
"To eliminate a figure like Nasrallah, whose entire purpose was to harm the State of Israel, is to realize you were part of a historic event," Colonel D. adds, declaring that even at this moment, tracking is underway for additional senior figures in terror organizations. "None of them are immune, and the long arm of the security establishment will know how to reach every single one of them, in the country or abroad," he says.
"The essence of the Operations Branch is to coordinate, and ultimately ensure that every operation is carried out with full support, coordination, and synchronization among all bodies," explains Colonel D. The branch knows exactly which planned operation is happening, where, and when, and Colonel D. refers to organizing for such an operation as a "multi-arena event." He clarifies that everyone works in close and full cooperation: Aman, the Air Force, the Shin Bet, and the Police. "Ultimately, we are the ones who synchronize the operational system."
Multi-Arena Responsibility and Flexibility
The Operations Branch, which is part of the Operations Directorate in the General Staff, deals with complex operations across all active combat sectors—both special operations and targeted liquidations. Some operations are conducted in close cooperation with the Shin Bet. Every such operation begins weeks, if not months, before execution, says Colonel D. "To make it happen, we brought the forces to full readiness in a short time."
According to him, for every operation carried out, shared, and published, there are many more that have not been published. Every operation has an envelope from the air, land, and sea, and the one synchronizing all of this is this branch, thanks to officers who work day and night, he emphasizes.
The coordination between the various entities within the IDF, as well as outside it, is a significant challenge accompanying the branch's work. Major A., head of the Special Operations Section in the branch, clarifies that the biggest challenge is to provide a response to everyone while maintaining operational flexibility. He explains that if there is currently an event of a rocket impact in Dimona and Arad—which is a Home Front Command event—helicopters are scrambled very quickly. But the challenge is to keep all the tools in hand to function even if an event develops simultaneously in the Southern Command and Northern Command. This is a multi-arena responsibility.
The Impact of the Pager Explonations
The branch calls the pager explosion operation, days before Nasrallah's elimination, the "main catalyst"—an event expressing a very high interception capability with immense psychological significance for the other side. In the directorate, this is seen as a significant blow to Hezbollah's capability and a substantive step toward realizing one of the war's goals, namely returning residents to the north.
That operation was previously described as a science fiction movie. The capabilities deployed there were groundbreaking and above all surprising. On September 17, 2024, at 15:30, thousands of pager devices exploded simultaneously across Lebanon and Syria. The next day, on September 18, Hezbollah's walkie-talkies also exploded. The result was dozens of dead and thousands of wounded in the organization's ranks, a significant portion of whom lost not only fingers but also operational competence.
The pager explosion, which was also coordinated at a very high level among several security agencies and kept under tight secrecy, was effectively the opening blow—paving the way for the assassination of Nasrallah himself and the targeting of many other senior figures. The panic that seeped into the terror organization and the attempts to communicate through other means only helped, one can deduce, the assassination plan against Hezbollah's leadership.
Looking Ahead
The head of the branch emphasizes that Israel's operational boundaries are wider than known. The places where we operate are far beyond what is apparent. Every place we reach, we act to thwart threats, he notes. "Our challenge is also to identify what we do not yet know and analyze that as well. These are things that affect the entire military, and we do this with utmost reverence."
Major A., head of the Joint Section, will soon mark 12 years in the IDF, but he testifies that his current position has changed all his military thinking. The branch is responsible for the maturation of operations, from the Chief of Staff down to the political echelon, he says. "At the edge sits an 18-year-old combat intelligence operator with immense responsibility and massive amounts of information," Major A. clarifies. The younger generation here does an amazing job in constant synchronization with Aman and the Air Force.
