WEBVTT 0 00:00:00.129 --> 00:00:02.400 There is an ancient Jewish teaching that says, 1 00:00:02.490 --> 00:00:04.078 if someone comes to kill you, 2 00:00:04.289 --> 00:00:05.909 rise and kill him first. 3 00:00:06.199 --> 00:00:09.359 It's come to define the way Israel has confronted its worst enemies, 4 00:00:09.569 --> 00:00:13.869 and it describes exactly what's been happening since the October 7th attacks, 5 00:00:13.970 --> 00:00:14.729 where the Mossad, 6 00:00:14.880 --> 00:00:16.909 Israel's foreign intelligence agency, 7 00:00:17.129 --> 00:00:18.610 has been running one of the most 8 00:00:18.610 --> 00:00:22.309 brutal and effective assassination campaigns in history. 9 00:00:22.610 --> 00:00:27.290 In what is best described as a multi-year long assassination rampage, 10 00:00:27.569 --> 00:00:30.520 Israel's enemies keep dying in mysterious ways, 11 00:00:30.729 --> 00:00:33.610 and often Mossad denies any involvement, 12 00:00:33.810 --> 00:00:35.349 which has raised the question of, 13 00:00:35.529 --> 00:00:37.430 if another party may be involved. 14 00:00:37.689 --> 00:00:38.240 And so today, 15 00:00:38.290 --> 00:00:42.040 I wanna look at Mossad's unfolding targeted killing up to today, 16 00:00:42.369 --> 00:00:43.840 how they managed to penetrate the 17 00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:46.409 world's most dangerous terrorist organizations, 18 00:00:46.849 --> 00:00:47.650 some of the blowback. 19 00:00:47.729 --> 00:00:49.130 That they've faced from it, 20 00:00:49.409 --> 00:00:51.770 and if these missions actually work, 21 00:00:52.130 --> 00:00:54.590 or if they just promote the next person in line. 22 00:00:54.849 --> 00:00:55.689 I'm Chris Cappy, 23 00:00:55.790 --> 00:00:57.680 former infantryman and war correspondent, 24 00:00:57.810 --> 00:01:01.909 fire a round at the subscribe button to get 3 new rundowns each week. 25 00:01:02.200 --> 00:01:04.388 After the October 7th terror attacks 26 00:01:04.610 --> 00:01:06.889 that killed some 11,200 people in Israel, 27 00:01:07.010 --> 00:01:08.080 mostly civilians, 28 00:01:08.330 --> 00:01:11.120 the chief of Israeli Mossad intelligence, 29 00:01:11.410 --> 00:01:12.709 David Barnea, 30 00:01:12.930 --> 00:01:16.169 vowed that his agency would hunt down every 31 00:01:16.169 --> 00:01:19.050 Hamas member involved in the terror attack, 32 00:01:19.290 --> 00:01:20.790 no matter where they are. 33 00:01:21.010 --> 00:01:22.970 Trying to kill a ghost is impossible, 34 00:01:23.089 --> 00:01:24.970 and that's why for more than 40 years, 35 00:01:25.440 --> 00:01:27.370 Fahud Shakur lived like one. 36 00:01:27.449 --> 00:01:29.629 He was wanted by the United States government 37 00:01:29.809 --> 00:01:34.010 for helping plan the 1983 bombing of the marine barracks in Beirut, 38 00:01:34.260 --> 00:01:36.980 which killed 241 Americans. 39 00:01:37.330 --> 00:01:38.000 And so America 40 00:01:38.440 --> 00:01:40.260 had designated him a terrorist 41 00:01:40.370 --> 00:01:44.959 and offered $5 million reward for any information leading to him. 42 00:01:45.290 --> 00:01:45.930 Because of this, 43 00:01:46.129 --> 00:01:48.269 Shakar never appeared in public. 44 00:01:48.610 --> 00:01:49.879 He avoided cameras, 45 00:01:50.129 --> 00:01:51.169 used a fake name, 46 00:01:51.290 --> 00:01:53.069 and became so secretive 47 00:01:53.440 --> 00:01:57.430 that even news outlets would use the wrong photo of him when talking about him. 48 00:01:57.650 --> 00:02:00.449 Shakur was one of Hezbollah's most important 49 00:02:00.449 --> 00:02:03.129 military figures from its founding generation. 50 00:02:03.550 --> 00:02:05.629 He played a major part in developing 51 00:02:05.629 --> 00:02:08.369 their long-range rocket and drone capabilities. 52 00:02:08.710 --> 00:02:10.190 On July 27, 53 00:02:10.300 --> 00:02:11.470 2024, 54 00:02:11.669 --> 00:02:13.869 a rocket struck a soccer field in Israel, 55 00:02:13.990 --> 00:02:15.910 killing 12 children and teenagers. 56 00:02:16.190 --> 00:02:19.119 Israel blamed Hezbollah and identified Shakur as 57 00:02:19.119 --> 00:02:21.289 the commander who ordered the attack. 58 00:02:21.779 --> 00:02:22.910 Hezbollah denied. 59 00:02:22.985 --> 00:02:23.654 Involvement, 60 00:02:23.824 --> 00:02:25.035 but 3 days later, 61 00:02:25.304 --> 00:02:26.595 Israel came for him. 62 00:02:26.895 --> 00:02:29.104 Shakur was working from the 2nd floor of 63 00:02:29.104 --> 00:02:33.485 a residential building in Beirut's Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs 64 00:02:33.744 --> 00:02:36.324 when he received a telephone call instructing him 65 00:02:36.324 --> 00:02:38.964 to walk upstairs to his 7th floor apartment. 66 00:02:39.184 --> 00:02:39.804 Minutes later, 67 00:02:40.304 --> 00:02:42.285 Israeli munitions tore through the building. 68 00:02:42.729 --> 00:02:45.220 An anonymous Hezbollah official suggested that the 69 00:02:45.220 --> 00:02:48.529 caller had penetrated the group's internal communications. 70 00:02:48.809 --> 00:02:50.789 Although Hezbollah publicly denied this account, 71 00:02:51.210 --> 00:02:54.320 either Israeli intelligence officers impersonated 72 00:02:54.320 --> 00:02:56.229 a trusted Hezbollah official, 73 00:02:56.529 --> 00:02:59.710 an Israeli agent inside of Hezbollah made the call, 74 00:03:00.190 --> 00:03:02.309 or a legitimate Hezbollah member 75 00:03:02.529 --> 00:03:06.630 unknowingly relayed false information supplied by Israeli intelligence. 76 00:03:06.929 --> 00:03:08.050 Whatever really happened, 77 00:03:08.169 --> 00:03:09.889 after 4 decades of hiding, 78 00:03:10.199 --> 00:03:11.020 The ghost 79 00:03:11.199 --> 00:03:14.380 had apparently been summoned to his own assassination, 80 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:17.660 and the larger message was only beginning to emerge. 81 00:03:18.020 --> 00:03:18.600 Hours later, 82 00:03:18.720 --> 00:03:20.710 something shocking was about to happen, 83 00:03:20.919 --> 00:03:23.580 this time to another senior enemy of Israel, 84 00:03:23.839 --> 00:03:27.570 who was preparing to spend the night more than 1000 miles away. 85 00:03:27.800 --> 00:03:29.080 But by this point, 86 00:03:29.279 --> 00:03:32.160 Israel was pursuing something much bigger than revenge 87 00:03:32.160 --> 00:03:34.679 against the men responsible for October 7th. 88 00:03:35.149 --> 00:03:38.350 The strategic goal here was to dismantle the leadership 89 00:03:38.550 --> 00:03:40.850 and command structure that allowed Hamas, 90 00:03:41.110 --> 00:03:45.149 and increasingly the wider Iranian-backed network around it, 91 00:03:45.429 --> 00:03:47.649 to threaten Israel in the first place. 92 00:03:47.869 --> 00:03:48.509 At the same time, 93 00:03:48.630 --> 00:03:50.630 Israel was trying to restore something that had 94 00:03:50.630 --> 00:03:53.550 been badly damaged by the October 7th attacks, 95 00:03:53.830 --> 00:03:54.570 deterrence. 96 00:03:54.869 --> 00:03:55.429 For decades, 97 00:03:55.470 --> 00:03:59.050 its security strategy depended partly on convincing its enemies. 98 00:03:59.270 --> 00:04:01.910 That attacking Israel would bring consequences 99 00:04:01.910 --> 00:04:03.949 far beyond the immediate battlefield. 100 00:04:04.149 --> 00:04:05.389 This is what allowed them to 101 00:04:05.589 --> 00:04:07.369 keep relatively low amount of 102 00:04:07.550 --> 00:04:08.750 active duty troops. 103 00:04:08.979 --> 00:04:13.410 Now Israel was trying to demonstrate that there was effectively no sanctuary, 104 00:04:13.630 --> 00:04:15.740 and as the next part will demonstrate, 105 00:04:16.029 --> 00:04:17.869 apparently neither was Tehran. 106 00:04:18.119 --> 00:04:20.709 Ismail Haniya had arrived in Tehran for 107 00:04:20.709 --> 00:04:23.350 the inauguration of Iran's newly elected president. 108 00:04:23.820 --> 00:04:25.989 As the head of Hamas political bureau, 109 00:04:26.230 --> 00:04:29.420 Haniya had spent much of the war outside Gaza, 110 00:04:29.709 --> 00:04:31.049 traveling between Qatar, 111 00:04:31.209 --> 00:04:31.470 Turkey, 112 00:04:31.510 --> 00:04:32.100 and Iran, 113 00:04:32.510 --> 00:04:37.089 representing Hamas abroad and participating in negotiations over a ceasefire 114 00:04:37.350 --> 00:04:39.489 and the release of Israeli hostages. 115 00:04:39.670 --> 00:04:40.739 On July 30th, 116 00:04:40.950 --> 00:04:42.910 he was photographed smiling and shaking 117 00:04:42.910 --> 00:04:45.100 hands with Iran's most powerful officials. 118 00:04:45.390 --> 00:04:48.470 Tehran was supposed to be one of the safest places in the world for him, 119 00:04:48.739 --> 00:04:49.660 which in hindsight, 120 00:04:49.670 --> 00:04:53.108 turned out to be a aggressive interpretation of the word safe. 121 00:04:53.447 --> 00:04:53.928 That night, 122 00:04:54.007 --> 00:04:54.627 Haina 123 00:04:54.937 --> 00:04:57.648 returned to a government guest house in northern Tehran. 124 00:04:57.768 --> 00:04:59.768 It was a secure compound used to 125 00:04:59.768 --> 00:05:03.048 accommodate senior officials and visiting dignitaries. 126 00:05:03.328 --> 00:05:05.928 But according to reporting later published by The 127 00:05:05.928 --> 00:05:08.238 New York Times and confirmed by Axios, 128 00:05:08.528 --> 00:05:09.808 Israeli intelligence, 129 00:05:10.088 --> 00:05:13.907 Mossad officers had already identified the exact building 130 00:05:14.048 --> 00:05:17.007 that Haina used during his visits, 131 00:05:17.208 --> 00:05:18.265 and And more creepy, 132 00:05:18.506 --> 00:05:21.385 they knew the exact bedroom where he normally slept. 133 00:05:21.705 --> 00:05:25.216 An explosive device had been concealed inside the room in advance, 134 00:05:25.506 --> 00:05:26.385 just waiting for him. 135 00:05:26.585 --> 00:05:28.295 Mossad operatives laying in wait, 136 00:05:28.385 --> 00:05:32.846 watching until intelligence confirmed that Haina was indeed inside. 137 00:05:33.096 --> 00:05:33.425 Then, 138 00:05:33.665 --> 00:05:35.196 at approximately 2 in the morning, 139 00:05:35.346 --> 00:05:36.226 on July 31st, 140 00:05:36.305 --> 00:05:37.656 the device exploded. 141 00:05:37.865 --> 00:05:40.365 Mossad had handled the room service. 142 00:05:40.626 --> 00:05:44.196 Haina and his bodyguard were killed inside the compound by the explosion. 143 00:05:44.574 --> 00:05:46.223 The blast tore through his room, 144 00:05:46.644 --> 00:05:49.553 but most of the surrounding building remained standing. 145 00:05:49.803 --> 00:05:52.003 Iran disputed the planted bomb account, 146 00:05:52.123 --> 00:05:56.484 the Revolutionary Guard claimed that he had been hit by a short-range projectile, 147 00:05:56.593 --> 00:05:58.544 either a drone or a missile 148 00:05:58.723 --> 00:06:02.884 that had been launched by a Mossad operative on the ground within eyesight. 149 00:06:03.164 --> 00:06:06.743 Mossad would have reason to lie to protect their methods and sources, 150 00:06:06.924 --> 00:06:07.884 but either way, 151 00:06:07.924 --> 00:06:11.023 it represents a catastrophic security failure. 152 00:06:11.381 --> 00:06:12.921 Both Hamas and Iran. 153 00:06:13.221 --> 00:06:17.502 Someone had penetrated one of the most secure IRGC compounds. 154 00:06:17.661 --> 00:06:20.481 It sent shock waves through Iran's leadership. 155 00:06:20.701 --> 00:06:22.941 And so in the space of just a few hours, 156 00:06:23.261 --> 00:06:26.041 multiple levels of Hezbollah and Hamas leadership 157 00:06:26.221 --> 00:06:27.502 had been assassinated. 158 00:06:27.782 --> 00:06:29.092 After October 7th, 159 00:06:29.402 --> 00:06:30.652 distanced borders, 160 00:06:30.911 --> 00:06:34.562 armed guards no longer guaranteed that Israel's enemies were safe. 161 00:06:35.092 --> 00:06:35.652 Geography, 162 00:06:35.661 --> 00:06:36.611 as it turned out, 163 00:06:36.902 --> 00:06:38.111 was becoming a very 164 00:06:38.239 --> 00:06:39.459 Reliable bodyguard. 165 00:06:39.720 --> 00:06:43.790 Paranoia set in that Mossad had infiltrated their very institutions. 166 00:06:44.079 --> 00:06:46.750 Hezbollah started seeing Mossad in their Cheerios. 167 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:49.959 The important thing was that Israel was now demonstrating 168 00:06:50.119 --> 00:06:54.510 that it had penetrated the very systems designed to keep these targets alive, 169 00:06:54.679 --> 00:06:55.739 and that capability 170 00:06:55.959 --> 00:06:58.829 was about to be used on a much larger scale, 171 00:06:58.839 --> 00:06:59.700 as you'll see. 172 00:06:59.959 --> 00:07:02.779 The man behind this entire wet work campaign, 173 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:04.820 this targeted killing campaign, 174 00:07:05.097 --> 00:07:06.578 Was David Barnea, 175 00:07:06.817 --> 00:07:10.037 the former director of Mossad and one of the central architects 176 00:07:10.167 --> 00:07:13.988 of Israel's post-October 7th attack assassination campaign. 177 00:07:14.257 --> 00:07:16.977 Barnea served in an elite commando unit 178 00:07:16.977 --> 00:07:18.808 before studying business in the United States. 179 00:07:19.058 --> 00:07:20.757 He joined Mossad in '96 180 00:07:20.937 --> 00:07:21.858 as a case officer. 181 00:07:21.977 --> 00:07:23.497 He eventually rose to the Tasma, 182 00:07:23.618 --> 00:07:27.798 the division responsible for recruiting and running human sources overseas 183 00:07:28.528 --> 00:07:31.178 before taking control of the entire organization in 2021, 184 00:07:31.247 --> 00:07:31.858 but we'll see how. 185 00:07:32.075 --> 00:07:34.536 That previous experience of running human 186 00:07:35.156 --> 00:07:36.276 is very important. 187 00:07:36.545 --> 00:07:37.115 At first, 188 00:07:37.316 --> 00:07:39.466 the hunt was confined largely to Gaza, 189 00:07:39.756 --> 00:07:41.885 then Barnea expanded the operation. 190 00:07:42.156 --> 00:07:46.805 They discovered Hamas is only one layer to a much larger Iranian network. 191 00:07:46.876 --> 00:07:51.406 He compared the targeted killing campaign to Israel's decades-long operation 192 00:07:51.635 --> 00:07:55.425 to find those who were responsible for the 1972 Munich massacre. 193 00:07:55.716 --> 00:07:58.835 He was tasked with finding Hamas leadership wherever they hid. 194 00:07:59.220 --> 00:08:01.109 And that comparison to Munich 195 00:08:01.410 --> 00:08:02.399 wasn't accidental. 196 00:08:02.570 --> 00:08:05.290 The idea of hunting enemies across borders in Israel 197 00:08:05.290 --> 00:08:07.970 goes almost back to the creation of Israel itself. 198 00:08:08.250 --> 00:08:09.170 After World War II, 199 00:08:09.329 --> 00:08:12.609 Israeli intelligence started tracking Nazi war criminals who 200 00:08:12.609 --> 00:08:14.829 had disappeared into Europe and South America. 201 00:08:15.130 --> 00:08:16.049 In the 1960s, 202 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:17.880 Mossad found Adolf Eichmann, 203 00:08:17.929 --> 00:08:21.070 the architect of the Holocaust deportation system, 204 00:08:21.369 --> 00:08:23.209 living under an assumed name in Argentina, 205 00:08:23.329 --> 00:08:25.230 so Mossad agents grabbed him off the street, 206 00:08:25.690 --> 00:08:26.209 secretly. 207 00:08:26.352 --> 00:08:27.722 Flew him to Israel for a trial, 208 00:08:27.923 --> 00:08:28.912 and 5 years later, 209 00:08:28.923 --> 00:08:32.932 Mossad went a step further and agents lured alleged Nazi war criminal, 210 00:08:33.043 --> 00:08:35.543 Herbert Cuckers to South America and killed him. 211 00:08:35.922 --> 00:08:38.712 So decades before Hamas or Hezbollah even existed, 212 00:08:38.953 --> 00:08:41.182 Israel was already developing a reputation 213 00:08:41.332 --> 00:08:43.621 for having an extremely long memory 214 00:08:43.793 --> 00:08:46.882 and an unusually flexible definition of too far away. 215 00:08:47.163 --> 00:08:49.802 No plot was too complicated and no place out 216 00:08:49.802 --> 00:08:52.122 of reach when it comes to Israel's enemies, 217 00:08:52.322 --> 00:08:53.482 as we'll see in this next. 218 00:08:53.606 --> 00:08:55.185 Ocean's 11 style hit, 219 00:08:55.435 --> 00:08:57.955 I was caught almost entirely on camera 220 00:08:58.195 --> 00:09:01.505 and then released to the public in this footage you're watching now, 221 00:09:01.786 --> 00:09:05.116 which is very strange because usually intelligence agencies do 222 00:09:05.116 --> 00:09:07.455 not want anybody knowing what you look like. 223 00:09:07.716 --> 00:09:08.955 In January 2010, 224 00:09:09.116 --> 00:09:10.455 Mohammed Al-Mabhoa 225 00:09:10.875 --> 00:09:12.395 stepped off a plane in Dubai 226 00:09:12.515 --> 00:09:16.135 and checked into a five-star hotel under an assumed fake name. 227 00:09:16.556 --> 00:09:18.315 He was a senior Hamas commander 228 00:09:18.515 --> 00:09:20.695 who was wanted by Israel for decades. 229 00:09:20.869 --> 00:09:23.379 So traveling quietly was naturally part of the job. 230 00:09:23.588 --> 00:09:28.888 But what he didn't know was that a small clandestine army of over 26 other travelers 231 00:09:29.148 --> 00:09:30.869 had just arrived there too, 232 00:09:31.109 --> 00:09:32.698 and were already looking for him. 233 00:09:32.989 --> 00:09:35.398 More than 2 dozen people flew in from around the world, 234 00:09:35.549 --> 00:09:35.828 Rome, 235 00:09:35.989 --> 00:09:36.268 Paris, 236 00:09:36.388 --> 00:09:36.778 Zurich, 237 00:09:36.999 --> 00:09:40.629 men and women who checked into separate hotels and at first glance, 238 00:09:40.908 --> 00:09:43.619 looked like they had absolutely nothing to do with one another. 239 00:09:43.908 --> 00:09:45.148 Some looked like businessmen, 240 00:09:45.229 --> 00:09:46.528 others looked like tourists, 241 00:09:46.588 --> 00:09:48.028 a few even changed into tennis. 242 00:09:48.211 --> 00:09:50.771 Clothing and wandered around carrying rackets, 243 00:09:51.101 --> 00:09:54.062 because apparently international espionage occasionally 244 00:09:54.062 --> 00:09:55.661 requires a convincing backhand. 245 00:09:55.942 --> 00:09:58.531 Then the camera started catching something strange. 246 00:09:58.702 --> 00:10:01.502 These travelers were recorded putting on disguises, 247 00:10:01.622 --> 00:10:02.642 switching clothes, 248 00:10:02.861 --> 00:10:06.211 and moving through the hotel in strangely coordinated ways. 249 00:10:06.521 --> 00:10:07.091 Collectively, 250 00:10:07.341 --> 00:10:09.531 started looking like a Mossad corporate retreat. 251 00:10:09.661 --> 00:10:11.822 Two of the visitors followed Mabhua into an 252 00:10:11.822 --> 00:10:14.382 elevator and watched which floor he selected. 253 00:10:14.502 --> 00:10:15.302 Another member of the group, 254 00:10:15.575 --> 00:10:19.114 Then booked a hotel room directly across the hallway from him. 255 00:10:19.375 --> 00:10:20.604 Others moved around the lobby, 256 00:10:20.645 --> 00:10:22.445 keeping watch and tracking his movements. 257 00:10:22.804 --> 00:10:23.734 Then that afternoon, 258 00:10:23.775 --> 00:10:25.215 Mabhua left his room. 259 00:10:25.375 --> 00:10:27.445 Then the undercover team made their move. 260 00:10:27.695 --> 00:10:30.594 Several operatives entered his room and waited inside. 261 00:10:31.065 --> 00:10:32.284 Around 8:30 that night, 262 00:10:32.294 --> 00:10:33.474 Mabhua returned, 263 00:10:33.655 --> 00:10:37.034 and what happened over the next several minutes wasn't captured on camera, 264 00:10:37.094 --> 00:10:38.164 but Mabhua 265 00:10:38.414 --> 00:10:39.965 never came back alive. 266 00:10:40.174 --> 00:10:43.208 Investigators later concluded that he'd been given a Powerful 267 00:10:43.208 --> 00:10:46.728 medical muscle relaxant that paralyzed and then suffocated him. 268 00:10:47.007 --> 00:10:48.968 The assassination team then left the 269 00:10:48.968 --> 00:10:51.677 room and began disappearing almost immediately, 270 00:10:51.888 --> 00:10:53.607 taking flights departing for Europe, 271 00:10:53.728 --> 00:10:54.038 Asia, 272 00:10:54.047 --> 00:10:54.687 and Africa, 273 00:10:54.768 --> 00:10:55.958 and within just hours, 274 00:10:56.127 --> 00:10:57.968 nearly everyone involved in the hit 275 00:10:58.168 --> 00:11:00.557 was already outside the United Arab Emirates. 276 00:11:00.807 --> 00:11:05.547 Dubai eventually identified 26 suspected members of the assassination team 277 00:11:05.728 --> 00:11:09.348 and publicly accused Israel's Mossad of carrying out the operation. 278 00:11:09.437 --> 00:11:09.817 Israel. 279 00:11:09.991 --> 00:11:12.140 Neither confirmed nor denied responsibility, 280 00:11:12.481 --> 00:11:16.681 but officials suggested that Mossad had been set up and framed to take the blame. 281 00:11:16.801 --> 00:11:19.000 But 7 of the foreign national identities 282 00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:21.640 were stolen from Israelis with dual citizenship, 283 00:11:21.880 --> 00:11:23.870 which strongly suggests who done it. 284 00:11:24.041 --> 00:11:26.760 But there was a problem with this type of giant operation. 285 00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:30.760 They left behind something intelligence agencies try very hard not to produce 286 00:11:30.760 --> 00:11:33.560 a feature-length CCT documentary showing how 287 00:11:33.560 --> 00:11:35.440 they disguise their surveillance methods, 288 00:11:35.721 --> 00:11:37.060 coordination tactics, 289 00:11:37.070 --> 00:11:37.120 and. 290 00:11:37.424 --> 00:11:37.953 Tradecraft. 291 00:11:38.073 --> 00:11:38.794 Up to this point, 292 00:11:38.994 --> 00:11:44.414 most of these operatives still ended up with a bomb or a bullet finding one guy. 293 00:11:44.713 --> 00:11:45.943 What comes next though, 294 00:11:46.153 --> 00:11:48.013 was completely different in 295 00:11:48.354 --> 00:11:49.943 almost all of military history. 296 00:11:50.114 --> 00:11:54.513 These assassination attacks are brazen and they seem to disregard all previously 297 00:11:54.513 --> 00:11:58.833 held notions of what was possible or even acceptable in targeted killings. 298 00:11:58.953 --> 00:12:02.504 But here another line would be crossed because even in war, 299 00:12:02.754 --> 00:12:04.393 there are unwritten rules between war. 300 00:12:04.757 --> 00:12:05.526 Signs that 301 00:12:05.706 --> 00:12:08.187 what's considered acceptable and what's out of bounds. 302 00:12:08.346 --> 00:12:11.257 But all of those rules are about to be torn apart as we'll see. 303 00:12:11.507 --> 00:12:11.906 For years, 304 00:12:12.026 --> 00:12:14.177 Hezbollah had a major operational problem. 305 00:12:14.267 --> 00:12:16.687 Their cellphones were convenient to communicate, 306 00:12:17.106 --> 00:12:17.456 but 307 00:12:17.666 --> 00:12:20.137 they were also tiny electronic snitches. 308 00:12:20.427 --> 00:12:22.427 Israel had become extremely good at tracking 309 00:12:22.427 --> 00:12:24.887 and intercepting those communications from cellphones. 310 00:12:25.187 --> 00:12:27.827 They used signals to locate Hezbollah operatives and 311 00:12:27.827 --> 00:12:30.627 then they sent an airstrike straight to location, 312 00:12:30.747 --> 00:12:31.666 no hesitation. 313 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:36.229 So Hezbollah eventually went looking for something dumbed down to work with. 314 00:12:36.479 --> 00:12:37.340 The answer was 315 00:12:37.989 --> 00:12:39.960 technology straight out of 1997. 316 00:12:40.080 --> 00:12:41.469 They used old pagers. 317 00:12:41.640 --> 00:12:42.559 These had no apps, 318 00:12:42.640 --> 00:12:43.479 no GPS, 319 00:12:43.640 --> 00:12:46.119 no constant doom scrolling through an Instagram feed. 320 00:12:46.400 --> 00:12:49.739 So Hezbollah knew the devices would make its communications 321 00:12:49.900 --> 00:12:52.510 harder for Israeli intelligence to monitor. 322 00:12:52.799 --> 00:12:52.960 Now, 323 00:12:53.039 --> 00:12:54.679 you might know what happened already, 324 00:12:54.880 --> 00:12:57.960 but you probably don't know the full story of how it happened. 325 00:12:58.200 --> 00:12:58.210 Because 326 00:12:58.609 --> 00:13:00.599 it wasn't revealed until very recently. 327 00:13:01.219 --> 00:13:02.650 Mossad had gotten to 328 00:13:02.770 --> 00:13:05.099 Hezbollah's pagers first in what would become one of 329 00:13:05.099 --> 00:13:08.130 the most elaborate targeted killing campaigns in history. 330 00:13:08.340 --> 00:13:12.960 According to former Mossad officers who were interviewed by 60 Minutes later on, 331 00:13:13.299 --> 00:13:15.820 these officers had learned in 2022 332 00:13:16.059 --> 00:13:19.080 that Hezbollah was buying pagers from a Taiwanese company 333 00:13:19.460 --> 00:13:20.900 called Gold Apollo, 334 00:13:21.140 --> 00:13:24.219 putting the single surviving Radio Shack somewhere out there in the world. 335 00:13:24.679 --> 00:13:25.659 back in business. 336 00:13:25.880 --> 00:13:28.380 Mossad decided to become Hezbollah's supplier. 337 00:13:28.599 --> 00:13:32.229 They created shell companies that concealed any connection to Israel. 338 00:13:32.520 --> 00:13:35.059 One of those companies operated through Hungary, 339 00:13:35.349 --> 00:13:38.880 while Mossad obtained the ability to sell a specifically 340 00:13:38.880 --> 00:13:42.479 designed pager under the legitimate Gold Apollo brand. 341 00:13:42.840 --> 00:13:47.049 Gold Apollo later said that it had licensed its trademark to another company, 342 00:13:47.210 --> 00:13:49.539 and had no knowledge of the operation. 343 00:13:49.760 --> 00:13:50.349 Reuters 344 00:13:50.460 --> 00:13:51.260 Independently found 345 00:13:51.460 --> 00:13:55.880 that the suspicious model had been given an elaborate commercial history online, 346 00:13:56.219 --> 00:13:59.369 even though the product essentially appeared out of nowhere, 347 00:13:59.700 --> 00:14:02.460 because Mossad knew that Hezbollah wasn't stupid. 348 00:14:02.780 --> 00:14:03.039 So, 349 00:14:03.179 --> 00:14:05.770 someone built the pager an entire online life, 350 00:14:05.900 --> 00:14:07.780 fake online stores appeared selling it, 351 00:14:07.859 --> 00:14:11.770 promotional videos advertised its supposedly excellent battery life. 352 00:14:12.140 --> 00:14:15.960 They essentially created a legend for an electronic device, 353 00:14:16.260 --> 00:14:19.320 the The same technique that intelligence agencies normally 354 00:14:19.320 --> 00:14:22.299 use to construct fake identities for spies. 355 00:14:22.760 --> 00:14:25.640 How Mossad implemented the explosives was through 356 00:14:25.640 --> 00:14:30.229 purpose-built fake battery labeled the LIBT 783, 357 00:14:30.479 --> 00:14:35.200 that looked extremely like an ordinary rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack. 358 00:14:35.520 --> 00:14:35.859 However, 359 00:14:36.239 --> 00:14:37.419 inside a thin layer 360 00:14:37.539 --> 00:14:40.179 was 6 g of plastic explosives 361 00:14:40.440 --> 00:14:42.719 that was concealed between the battery cells. 362 00:14:42.969 --> 00:14:45.820 Along with a specifically designated initiating 363 00:14:45.820 --> 00:14:48.099 component to basically set it off. 364 00:14:48.450 --> 00:14:50.900 Hezbollah operatives even ran the pagers through 365 00:14:50.900 --> 00:14:53.119 an X-ray looking for anything suspicious, 366 00:14:53.539 --> 00:14:54.679 but saw nothing. 367 00:14:54.890 --> 00:14:58.739 According to the former Mossad officer who was interviewed by CBS, 368 00:14:58.979 --> 00:15:02.119 Israel recruited the same gold Apollo saleswoman 369 00:15:02.299 --> 00:15:04.840 that Hezbollah was already used to dealing with. 370 00:15:05.099 --> 00:15:07.659 She had no idea she was working for Mossad. 371 00:15:07.940 --> 00:15:08.940 She approached Hezbollah. 372 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:11.030 With an offer to upgrade its pagers, 373 00:15:11.320 --> 00:15:13.320 two years after the start of the operation. 374 00:15:13.479 --> 00:15:15.159 By September 2024, 375 00:15:15.479 --> 00:15:18.900 they had about 5000 of these new upgraded pagers 376 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:22.280 that had worked their way throughout Hezbollah's organization. 377 00:15:22.400 --> 00:15:25.070 They had agreed to upgrading their pagers. 378 00:15:25.280 --> 00:15:25.520 Then, 379 00:15:25.599 --> 00:15:29.030 at roughly 3:30 in the afternoon on September 17, 380 00:15:29.390 --> 00:15:30.440 2024, 381 00:15:30.549 --> 00:15:35.039 pagers began beeping all across Lebanon and parts of Syria. 382 00:15:35.479 --> 00:15:37.989 The actual detonation came in two steps. 383 00:15:38.280 --> 00:15:40.500 The first happened when users pressed the two 384 00:15:40.500 --> 00:15:43.710 buttons simultaneously required to unlock the pager, 385 00:15:44.039 --> 00:15:45.219 typically while holding it 386 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:46.590 with both hands. 387 00:15:46.799 --> 00:15:50.179 The attack was especially horrific due to one key detail. 388 00:15:50.479 --> 00:15:54.989 Mossad chose to operate and do this operation on a bright sunny day, 389 00:15:55.280 --> 00:15:57.619 so most of these Hezbollah operatives 390 00:15:57.760 --> 00:16:00.539 had to bring the pager close up to their face 391 00:16:00.719 --> 00:16:02.070 in order To see the message 392 00:16:02.479 --> 00:16:04.429 on the tiny LCD screen. 393 00:16:04.650 --> 00:16:06.190 The most cursed case of 394 00:16:06.330 --> 00:16:06.960 not a bug, 395 00:16:06.969 --> 00:16:07.750 but a feature. 396 00:16:07.929 --> 00:16:11.409 This resulted in a dramatic surge of blindness in Lebanon as 397 00:16:11.409 --> 00:16:14.469 hundreds of Hezbollah operatives held the pagers up to their face. 398 00:16:14.890 --> 00:16:16.479 Then thousands of them exploded. 399 00:16:16.659 --> 00:16:18.289 The blasts erupted in homes, 400 00:16:18.489 --> 00:16:18.929 stores, 401 00:16:19.169 --> 00:16:19.450 streets, 402 00:16:19.530 --> 00:16:21.530 and vehicles almost simultaneously, 403 00:16:21.770 --> 00:16:25.710 instantly overwhelming hospitals across Lebanon and preventing them from 404 00:16:25.830 --> 00:16:26.309 even 405 00:16:26.409 --> 00:16:26.929 anticipating. 406 00:16:27.250 --> 00:16:27.880 what was happening. 407 00:16:28.020 --> 00:16:29.119 Some people required 408 00:16:29.260 --> 00:16:31.039 amputation of both or one hand. 409 00:16:31.419 --> 00:16:34.280 All of it was caught on security camera footage 410 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:36.099 that became viral videos, 411 00:16:36.109 --> 00:16:37.969 seeing the explosions happen across the city, 412 00:16:38.059 --> 00:16:40.489 although we probably can't show that graphic footage here. 413 00:16:40.750 --> 00:16:41.659 The following day though, 414 00:16:41.820 --> 00:16:42.929 September 18th, 415 00:16:43.020 --> 00:16:44.760 while funerals were being held, 416 00:16:45.260 --> 00:16:47.299 another wave of blasts started. 417 00:16:47.619 --> 00:16:47.900 That's right, 418 00:16:47.979 --> 00:16:48.929 it wasn't over yet. 419 00:16:49.179 --> 00:16:49.580 This time, 420 00:16:49.690 --> 00:16:52.000 walkie-talkies and other communications equipment 421 00:16:52.219 --> 00:16:52.739 started exploding. 422 00:16:53.239 --> 00:16:57.739 Devices Hezbollah had turned to precisely to avoid pagers. 423 00:16:57.909 --> 00:16:58.789 Across the two days, 424 00:16:58.909 --> 00:17:00.700 about 4000 people were injured, 425 00:17:01.030 --> 00:17:02.929 another 42 were killed. 426 00:17:03.229 --> 00:17:03.770 Tragically, 427 00:17:03.859 --> 00:17:06.060 a number of civilians were also killed. 428 00:17:06.380 --> 00:17:06.750 Once again, 429 00:17:06.868 --> 00:17:08.250 the walkie-talkie attack 430 00:17:08.430 --> 00:17:10.868 began long before the kinetic result. 431 00:17:11.069 --> 00:17:13.660 It stretched back this time to 2014, 432 00:17:13.829 --> 00:17:18.520 and two former Mossad agents spoke to CBS about how exactly it all went down. 433 00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:21.310 So these officers managed to convince Hezbollah to 434 00:17:21.310 --> 00:17:25.300 buy walkie-talkies directly from Massage shell companies itself, 435 00:17:25.640 --> 00:17:30.280 and each walkie-talkie was laced with explosives built directly into the battery. 436 00:17:30.520 --> 00:17:32.030 So for 10 years, 437 00:17:32.239 --> 00:17:34.180 the walkie-talkies behaved normally, 438 00:17:34.359 --> 00:17:37.180 earning the full trust of Hezbollah's terror network. 439 00:17:37.560 --> 00:17:39.640 Then a day after the pager attacks, 440 00:17:39.900 --> 00:17:42.180 a new signal was broadcast in Lebanon, 441 00:17:42.560 --> 00:17:46.109 and hundreds of surviving walkie-talkies exploded in unison. 442 00:17:46.280 --> 00:17:49.724 At least 20 more people were killed and nearly 500 injured 443 00:17:49.944 --> 00:17:51.535 in the resulting explosions. 444 00:17:51.744 --> 00:17:55.974 The two back to back attacks were widely criticized and praised alike. 445 00:17:56.305 --> 00:18:00.165 Some within the UN called the attack a violation of international law, 446 00:18:00.425 --> 00:18:03.564 while others pointed out the extreme precision of the attack. 447 00:18:03.864 --> 00:18:07.125 Hezbollah is a globally designated terror organization, 448 00:18:07.395 --> 00:18:09.064 making strikes against it legal, 449 00:18:09.255 --> 00:18:13.045 and some have argued that by targeting walkie-talkies and pager owners 450 00:18:13.265 --> 00:18:14.344 owned by Hezbollah. 451 00:18:14.489 --> 00:18:15.079 Operatives, 452 00:18:15.250 --> 00:18:16.920 the attacks were just as, 453 00:18:16.969 --> 00:18:20.819 if not more precise than the use of some kind of guided bomb. 454 00:18:20.930 --> 00:18:21.550 In either case, 455 00:18:21.969 --> 00:18:24.489 the civilian casualties were tragic though. 456 00:18:24.729 --> 00:18:27.910 Two stunning revelations would emerge in the wake of the attack though. 457 00:18:28.170 --> 00:18:29.469 The first is that Hungary, 458 00:18:29.569 --> 00:18:31.849 under Putin ally Viktor Orban, 459 00:18:32.130 --> 00:18:36.329 had offered to aid Iran in the investigation of these pagers. 460 00:18:36.569 --> 00:18:38.930 So the Washington Post confirmed the move 461 00:18:38.930 --> 00:18:41.670 via a leaked Hungarian government transcript, 462 00:18:41.859 --> 00:18:42.229 detailing 463 00:18:42.395 --> 00:18:45.314 How Hungarian intelligence had offered full 464 00:18:45.314 --> 00:18:48.035 cooperation in investigating the pager plot 465 00:18:48.234 --> 00:18:52.324 that was orchestrated from shell companies based in their own country. 466 00:18:52.555 --> 00:18:55.015 So the revelation drew intense criticism 467 00:18:55.265 --> 00:18:57.175 due to Hungary's status as a NATO member, 468 00:18:57.594 --> 00:18:58.875 Iran's belligerence, 469 00:18:59.074 --> 00:19:01.474 and Hezbollah's designation as a terror organization. 470 00:19:01.515 --> 00:19:02.454 They were basically 471 00:19:02.635 --> 00:19:03.834 helping the other team out. 472 00:19:04.114 --> 00:19:06.334 But as a close ally of Putin, 473 00:19:06.755 --> 00:19:10.055 Orban was likely ordered to cooperate in order to 474 00:19:10.170 --> 00:19:11.939 Strengthen Russian-Iranian bonds, 475 00:19:12.050 --> 00:19:13.579 although we don't know for sure. 476 00:19:13.859 --> 00:19:16.280 The assassination campaign was also hell-bent 477 00:19:16.420 --> 00:19:18.650 on causing a psychological impact, 478 00:19:18.979 --> 00:19:20.760 because after seeing videos of the attack, 479 00:19:20.959 --> 00:19:24.790 the 40-year leader of Hezbollah was apparently broken by it. 480 00:19:25.099 --> 00:19:28.400 Some said that he was no longer the same Hassan Nasrallah, 481 00:19:28.739 --> 00:19:30.459 according to an unnamed associate. 482 00:19:30.660 --> 00:19:33.040 Nasrallah stopped eating for 24 hours, 483 00:19:33.310 --> 00:19:34.410 only drinking water. 484 00:19:34.660 --> 00:19:37.770 The lack of eating would persist long after the initial shock. 485 00:19:38.084 --> 00:19:38.905 wore off though, 486 00:19:39.364 --> 00:19:41.005 with its prompting physical problems. 487 00:19:41.165 --> 00:19:44.045 Nasrallah was apparently more horrified by the depth 488 00:19:44.045 --> 00:19:47.464 of penetration into Hezbollah that Mossad has achieved 489 00:19:47.724 --> 00:19:49.165 than some of the casualties. 490 00:19:49.285 --> 00:19:53.185 This psychological effect was exactly the goal of the Israeli operation. 491 00:19:53.405 --> 00:19:54.395 For weeks after, 492 00:19:54.444 --> 00:19:56.584 the group would be unable to coordinate 493 00:19:56.765 --> 00:19:59.435 at a scale due to fear of sabotage. 494 00:19:59.724 --> 00:20:02.685 What other everyday object could be secretly 495 00:20:02.685 --> 00:20:05.354 holding a small charge of plastic explosives? 496 00:20:05.444 --> 00:20:06.689 Was the Microwave safe. 497 00:20:06.949 --> 00:20:07.709 But ultimately, 498 00:20:07.829 --> 00:20:11.699 how effective was killing their entire senior military and political command? 499 00:20:12.030 --> 00:20:15.890 When Israel would later in 2026 invade into southern Lebanon 500 00:20:16.229 --> 00:20:17.579 to push Hezbollah back, 501 00:20:17.790 --> 00:20:22.660 they faced a force that had upgraded and armed themselves with new FPV drones. 502 00:20:23.030 --> 00:20:24.310 By late 2026, 503 00:20:24.469 --> 00:20:26.420 Reuters noted that the Lebanese army was 504 00:20:26.420 --> 00:20:29.530 dismantling Hezbollah weapons sites in southern Lebanon 505 00:20:29.670 --> 00:20:32.410 on a scale that would have almost been unimaginable 506 00:20:32.589 --> 00:20:34.334 when Hezbollah was at Full strength. 507 00:20:34.734 --> 00:20:35.775 While not destroyed, 508 00:20:35.974 --> 00:20:38.675 Hezbollah had been significantly weakened. 509 00:20:38.775 --> 00:20:41.844 But operations like the pager plot take years to build, 510 00:20:42.015 --> 00:20:46.045 and Mossad can't create a fake electronic supply chain every Tuesday. 511 00:20:46.295 --> 00:20:47.135 For most targets, 512 00:20:47.214 --> 00:20:49.574 Israel relies on something much faster, 513 00:20:49.734 --> 00:20:50.244 simpler, 514 00:20:50.494 --> 00:20:52.714 and considerably more old school. 515 00:20:52.974 --> 00:20:55.734 It's their reoccurring signature or MO. 516 00:20:56.055 --> 00:20:56.535 For years, 517 00:20:56.614 --> 00:21:01.214 the United States had been searching for a man named Abu Mohammad al-Masari. 518 00:21:01.400 --> 00:21:03.670 One of al-Qaeda's founding members, 519 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:07.420 and the man responsible for the 1998 truck bombing 520 00:21:07.640 --> 00:21:10.800 of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania 521 00:21:10.989 --> 00:21:12.459 that killed over 200 people. 522 00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:13.430 By 2020, 523 00:21:13.479 --> 00:21:16.989 intelligence officials considered him al-Qaeda's number two man. 524 00:21:17.199 --> 00:21:19.660 Intelligence officials said that he was eventually living 525 00:21:19.800 --> 00:21:24.430 quietly in an upscale neighborhood of the Iranian capital under another identity, 526 00:21:24.680 --> 00:21:25.750 but there was a problem. 527 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:29.160 How do you get American operatives into Iran to kill him? 528 00:21:29.459 --> 00:21:31.380 The United States turned to Israel, 529 00:21:31.619 --> 00:21:32.140 reportedly. 530 00:21:32.339 --> 00:21:34.959 Mossad has spent years recruiting people in Iran, 531 00:21:35.260 --> 00:21:37.959 and sending operatives undercover identities. 532 00:21:38.219 --> 00:21:39.660 And so on October 7th, 533 00:21:39.770 --> 00:21:40.640 2020, 534 00:21:41.020 --> 00:21:44.010 exactly 22 years after the embassy bombings, 535 00:21:44.260 --> 00:21:46.619 Al-Masari was driving through Tehran 536 00:21:46.819 --> 00:21:48.140 with his daughter Mariam, 537 00:21:48.410 --> 00:21:48.839 herself, 538 00:21:48.900 --> 00:21:50.959 the widow of Osama bin Laden's son. 539 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:52.979 Two men approached on a motorcycle, 540 00:21:53.130 --> 00:21:54.900 they pulled off alongside the vehicle, 541 00:21:55.170 --> 00:21:55.640 fired. 542 00:21:55.941 --> 00:21:58.711 repeatedly with a suppressed handgun and then disappeared. 543 00:21:58.840 --> 00:22:00.630 Al-Massari and his daughter were killed. 544 00:22:00.840 --> 00:22:05.191 Iranian media reported that the murdered man was a Lebanese history professor, 545 00:22:05.480 --> 00:22:08.461 which was Al-Masari's covert identity there. 546 00:22:08.801 --> 00:22:08.870 See, 547 00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:09.781 the Iranian government 548 00:22:10.041 --> 00:22:10.421 was 549 00:22:10.801 --> 00:22:11.461 protecting him 550 00:22:11.840 --> 00:22:14.061 because of a prisoner swap that they had done, 551 00:22:14.230 --> 00:22:14.590 but 552 00:22:14.801 --> 00:22:16.421 it also leads to questions of 553 00:22:16.600 --> 00:22:17.281 who had him killed. 554 00:22:17.390 --> 00:22:18.321 Was it Israel? 555 00:22:18.561 --> 00:22:19.360 Was it Iran, 556 00:22:19.480 --> 00:22:21.461 because Iran doesn't like al-Qaeda either, 557 00:22:21.880 --> 00:22:24.722 or Was it the United States who wanted revenge. 558 00:22:25.141 --> 00:22:29.171 There are over 8 documented cases of Mossad using this technique though. 559 00:22:29.421 --> 00:22:30.102 In one case, 560 00:22:30.222 --> 00:22:33.982 going as far away as shooting down a Hamas member in Kuala Lumpur. 561 00:22:34.302 --> 00:22:35.141 For a few years, 562 00:22:35.342 --> 00:22:37.812 being an Iranian nuclear scientist stuck in Tehran 563 00:22:37.812 --> 00:22:39.501 traffic and seeing two guys pull up on 564 00:22:39.501 --> 00:22:43.881 a motorcycle alongside your car was a good enough reason to run the next red light. 565 00:22:44.102 --> 00:22:47.202 But the other signature move that Israel uses is 566 00:22:47.381 --> 00:22:48.501 maybe the most controversial. 567 00:22:49.203 --> 00:22:51.922 This method has caused a lot of blowback. 568 00:22:52.253 --> 00:22:55.223 Just 10 days after the October 7th attack on Israel, 569 00:22:55.483 --> 00:22:58.483 Mossad sets their eyes on Ayman Naffel, 570 00:22:58.723 --> 00:23:01.503 a key member of Hamas General Military Council. 571 00:23:01.843 --> 00:23:02.302 Ironically, 572 00:23:02.373 --> 00:23:07.312 the man who was appointed to head Hamas's use of drones in air operations 573 00:23:07.522 --> 00:23:11.483 is himself killed in an airstrike facilitated by an Israeli drone. 574 00:23:11.843 --> 00:23:14.883 Drone and airstrikes have become the signature method. 575 00:23:15.024 --> 00:23:16.093 Assassinations 576 00:23:16.343 --> 00:23:18.524 when Mossad cannot reach out on the ground. 577 00:23:19.063 --> 00:23:21.213 Despite firing small warheads, 578 00:23:21.443 --> 00:23:23.663 the collateral damage is often huge. 579 00:23:23.943 --> 00:23:26.443 The reason for this problem is partly because Gaza, 580 00:23:26.703 --> 00:23:27.963 as a combat environment 581 00:23:28.063 --> 00:23:28.764 is tiny, 582 00:23:28.904 --> 00:23:32.244 just 25 miles long by 7.5 miles wide. 583 00:23:32.663 --> 00:23:34.663 It's one of the most densely populated places on 584 00:23:34.663 --> 00:23:37.124 Earth with over 2 million people calling it home. 585 00:23:37.413 --> 00:23:41.183 Gaza is an urban combat nightmare and an intelligence-gathering. 586 00:23:41.925 --> 00:23:46.064 with hundreds of thousands of electronic satellite and cell communications 587 00:23:46.244 --> 00:23:47.864 happening simultaneously 588 00:23:48.005 --> 00:23:49.125 at any one time. 589 00:23:49.324 --> 00:23:51.045 In order to sift through the noise, 590 00:23:51.334 --> 00:23:54.954 the Israeli government started secretly deploying AI tools 591 00:23:55.125 --> 00:23:56.305 that they developed years ago. 592 00:23:56.765 --> 00:23:58.864 Mossad decided to give a green light 593 00:23:59.005 --> 00:24:01.224 for deployment of this controversial tool 594 00:24:01.324 --> 00:24:06.185 and its capability of sifting through gargantuan amounts of data in real-time 595 00:24:06.364 --> 00:24:07.685 and identifying individuals. 596 00:24:07.796 --> 00:24:09.225 Who are lost in the noise. 597 00:24:09.505 --> 00:24:11.375 They basically comb through tons of 598 00:24:11.526 --> 00:24:15.605 traffic cameras and they've hacked into all of these different camera systems 599 00:24:15.985 --> 00:24:17.696 to look for these individuals. 600 00:24:17.826 --> 00:24:20.786 And one of those individuals is Ibrahim Bi Rahi. 601 00:24:21.026 --> 00:24:23.365 He's a planner of the October 7th attack 602 00:24:23.706 --> 00:24:26.296 and a high priority target for Israeli forces. 603 00:24:26.586 --> 00:24:30.215 He was the commander of the battalion that led the assault on October 7th, 604 00:24:30.586 --> 00:24:34.026 so Bari is immediately targeted for early retirement. 605 00:24:34.420 --> 00:24:37.489 The strikes target him as he hides out in a refugee camp, 606 00:24:37.770 --> 00:24:39.619 and the explosion from the airstrike resulted 607 00:24:39.619 --> 00:24:42.010 in a large number of civilian casualties, 608 00:24:42.300 --> 00:24:46.319 but the exact total of civilian casualties remains hard to verify, 609 00:24:46.459 --> 00:24:48.219 because of two key problems, 610 00:24:48.420 --> 00:24:51.540 a lack of independent non-Hamas casualty reporting. 611 00:24:51.780 --> 00:24:55.459 And the choice by Hamas to dress their fighters in civilian clothing. 612 00:24:55.739 --> 00:24:58.939 The collateral damage from this new targeted strike campaign 613 00:24:58.939 --> 00:25:02.079 begins to become a major international problem for Israel, 614 00:25:02.339 --> 00:25:03.719 but this is just the start 615 00:25:04.010 --> 00:25:05.920 of dismantling Hamas's leadership. 616 00:25:06.219 --> 00:25:07.260 Over the course of November, 617 00:25:07.369 --> 00:25:08.930 Israeli airstrikes successfully 618 00:25:09.060 --> 00:25:11.900 Target and killed the commander of the northern Gaza brigade, 619 00:25:12.099 --> 00:25:14.930 the commander of Hamas rocket launch operations, 620 00:25:15.180 --> 00:25:18.040 and a plethora of other battlefield commanders. 621 00:25:18.260 --> 00:25:23.380 Israel has an enormous undercover operations inside these terror networks 622 00:25:23.540 --> 00:25:26.140 that track down the location of senior leadership. 623 00:25:26.479 --> 00:25:28.579 The target list was fast expanding. 624 00:25:28.699 --> 00:25:30.160 Israel was moving from 625 00:25:30.329 --> 00:25:34.359 climbing up the proxy leadership ladder to climbing the network 626 00:25:34.459 --> 00:25:37.760 toward the country financing and arming them. 627 00:25:38.099 --> 00:25:40.500 That meant every successful assassination 628 00:25:40.680 --> 00:25:44.599 was also bringing Israel closer to a direct confrontation with 629 00:25:44.699 --> 00:25:45.479 Iran. 630 00:25:45.739 --> 00:25:47.219 But what happens next though, 631 00:25:47.420 --> 00:25:50.400 is unprecedented and makes the entire world. 632 00:25:50.569 --> 00:25:53.849 Hold its breath in anticipation of World War Middle East. 633 00:25:54.130 --> 00:25:57.930 This targeted assassination campaign continues to escalate just when you 634 00:25:57.930 --> 00:26:01.319 think every geopolitical boundary and norm has been crossed, 635 00:26:01.609 --> 00:26:02.800 because on Christmas Day, 636 00:26:02.969 --> 00:26:04.079 December 25, 637 00:26:04.209 --> 00:26:05.319 2023, 638 00:26:05.699 --> 00:26:07.569 Sayed Razi Massavi, 639 00:26:07.810 --> 00:26:10.810 a senior Iranian commander responsible for overseeing 640 00:26:10.810 --> 00:26:13.589 Iran's support for its terrorist proxy networks 641 00:26:13.770 --> 00:26:14.650 in Syria and. 642 00:26:14.760 --> 00:26:17.849 Lebanon has been a very bad boy that year. 643 00:26:18.119 --> 00:26:20.260 As a high-ranking member of the IRGC, 644 00:26:20.439 --> 00:26:22.589 he's generally considered untouchable, 645 00:26:22.839 --> 00:26:23.420 threatening him 646 00:26:23.760 --> 00:26:26.180 could open the doors to all-out war 647 00:26:26.599 --> 00:26:27.160 between Israel, 648 00:26:27.239 --> 00:26:27.939 the United States, 649 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:28.520 and Iran. 650 00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:28.760 I, 651 00:26:28.839 --> 00:26:29.239 I know, 652 00:26:29.640 --> 00:26:31.300 who could imagine such a thing 653 00:26:31.439 --> 00:26:32.270 ever happening. 654 00:26:32.560 --> 00:26:35.180 But as he's meeting with his contacts 655 00:26:35.319 --> 00:26:37.420 at a farmhouse outside Damascus, 656 00:26:37.640 --> 00:26:38.599 the capital of Syria, 657 00:26:38.949 --> 00:26:43.780 Someone delivers a 500 pound JDA bomb instead of coal for his stocking. 658 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:45.910 The killing sends shock waves through the region. 659 00:26:46.030 --> 00:26:48.900 Everyone knows that Iran has long supported Hamas, 660 00:26:49.189 --> 00:26:52.930 but a firm link between Iran and the October 7th attacks 661 00:26:53.150 --> 00:26:56.339 has yet to be firmly established even to today. 662 00:26:56.589 --> 00:26:56.949 However, 663 00:26:57.030 --> 00:27:00.109 on page 18 of the 2024 annual threat 664 00:27:00.109 --> 00:27:03.030 assessment presented by the United States intelligence community, 665 00:27:03.280 --> 00:27:05.119 It states that in their belief, 666 00:27:05.280 --> 00:27:07.459 Iran is exploiting the Gaza war 667 00:27:07.660 --> 00:27:09.140 for its own benefit. 668 00:27:09.430 --> 00:27:09.670 Quote, 669 00:27:09.719 --> 00:27:12.920 Iran will seek to use Gaza conflict to denounce Israel, 670 00:27:13.160 --> 00:27:14.420 decry its role in the region, 671 00:27:14.680 --> 00:27:19.219 and try to dissuade other Middle Eastern states from warming ties with Israel, 672 00:27:19.319 --> 00:27:21.380 while trumpeting Iran's own role 673 00:27:21.520 --> 00:27:22.300 as the champion 674 00:27:22.680 --> 00:27:24.060 of the Palestinian cause, 675 00:27:24.199 --> 00:27:24.939 end quote. 676 00:27:25.280 --> 00:27:26.640 For the pariah nation, 677 00:27:26.959 --> 00:27:30.619 normalization of relations between Israel and the rest of the Middle East 678 00:27:30.800 --> 00:27:32.260 is a doomsday scenario, 679 00:27:32.760 --> 00:27:38.010 not only Is it so much the Ayatollah's internal credibility based upon a pledge 680 00:27:38.189 --> 00:27:39.550 to destroy Israel, 681 00:27:39.829 --> 00:27:40.630 but to this day, 682 00:27:40.750 --> 00:27:42.170 regional divisiveness 683 00:27:42.349 --> 00:27:46.729 over Israel is the only thing that prevents the Middle East from banding together 684 00:27:46.910 --> 00:27:50.140 to completely alienate Iran in its own backyard. 685 00:27:50.349 --> 00:27:50.930 Iran 686 00:27:51.089 --> 00:27:53.930 is basically the most unpopular kid in school, 687 00:27:54.109 --> 00:27:55.339 and everyone hates them, 688 00:27:55.550 --> 00:27:58.140 but as long as Israel's also unpopular, 689 00:27:58.430 --> 00:28:00.229 the rest of the school won't gang up on them, 690 00:28:00.310 --> 00:28:02.890 tease them and call them Chris crappy all the time. 691 00:28:03.439 --> 00:28:06.170 Iran longs for the old days of the Arab League, 692 00:28:06.290 --> 00:28:07.810 when every 10 years or so, 693 00:28:07.890 --> 00:28:12.030 the entire region practices its favorite hobby of declaring war on Israel, 694 00:28:12.250 --> 00:28:14.209 and they appear to be making some headway. 695 00:28:14.310 --> 00:28:15.849 Israel's war in Gaza, 696 00:28:16.089 --> 00:28:19.040 which had caused tens of thousands of civilian deaths, 697 00:28:19.319 --> 00:28:21.729 has made them unpopular in world opinion. 698 00:28:22.050 --> 00:28:24.010 But in order for Iran to get back to 699 00:28:24.010 --> 00:28:26.719 the good old days and restore Iranian regional influence, 700 00:28:27.597 --> 00:28:30.116 as well as buy itself some breathing room, 701 00:28:30.317 --> 00:28:34.577 Iran really needs countries to stop normalizing relations with Israel. 702 00:28:34.796 --> 00:28:39.927 And so while no direct links exist between Iran and the October 7th attacks, 703 00:28:40.386 --> 00:28:40.937 outside of 704 00:28:41.286 --> 00:28:44.227 known material and financial support for Hamas, 705 00:28:44.506 --> 00:28:46.817 it's incredibly unlikely that Tehran 706 00:28:47.036 --> 00:28:48.427 didn't know it was coming. 707 00:28:48.717 --> 00:28:50.317 This despite some intelligence. 708 00:28:50.504 --> 00:28:53.244 Showing that at least some members of the Iranian government 709 00:28:53.624 --> 00:28:55.364 were surprised by the attacks. 710 00:28:55.624 --> 00:28:58.144 But this is not proof of innocence of Iran though, 711 00:28:58.264 --> 00:29:00.823 it's only proof of what we've seen to be true, 712 00:29:00.904 --> 00:29:01.614 which is that 713 00:29:01.864 --> 00:29:05.963 Iran's government is riddled with US and Israeli double agents. 714 00:29:06.223 --> 00:29:07.413 The killing in Damascus, 715 00:29:07.693 --> 00:29:08.024 Syria though, 716 00:29:08.144 --> 00:29:10.604 sparked threats and protests from Iran, 717 00:29:11.063 --> 00:29:13.203 but thankfully no outright war yet. 718 00:29:13.703 --> 00:29:14.480 The The problem was, 719 00:29:14.490 --> 00:29:18.051 the more high-level Hamas leadership that Mossad killed, 720 00:29:18.370 --> 00:29:21.431 the more replacements instantly filled their space. 721 00:29:21.730 --> 00:29:25.071 That's the fundamental problem with assassination campaigns. 722 00:29:25.370 --> 00:29:29.120 Killing the man is much easier than killing the organization. 723 00:29:29.411 --> 00:29:31.301 Every name crossed off the list, 724 00:29:31.541 --> 00:29:32.840 created an empty chair, 725 00:29:33.020 --> 00:29:37.370 and somebody with a misplaced sense of confidence was usually waiting to sit in it. 726 00:29:37.939 --> 00:29:40.560 Sometimes it's unclear who's behind the attacks. 727 00:29:40.810 --> 00:29:41.849 On January 20th, 728 00:29:41.930 --> 00:29:44.650 in an incredible feat of raw mathematical probability, 729 00:29:44.729 --> 00:29:48.130 a 1000 pound JA falls from the sky over Damascus, 730 00:29:48.369 --> 00:29:52.839 falling onto the heads of a group of senior IRGC Quds Force commanders. 731 00:29:53.150 --> 00:29:58.000 Israel denies responsibility for killing the three Iranian advisors. 732 00:29:58.369 --> 00:30:00.089 Suspicion though falls on Israel, 733 00:30:00.199 --> 00:30:04.270 but the truth is the United States was just as motivated to carry out the strike. 734 00:30:04.682 --> 00:30:05.952 In 2023, 735 00:30:06.202 --> 00:30:10.401 Amizaida was directly identified by US intelligence as being 736 00:30:10.401 --> 00:30:13.671 responsible for attempting to target American ground troops. 737 00:30:13.842 --> 00:30:16.092 There was a Washington Post investigation 738 00:30:16.281 --> 00:30:20.021 into the famous Discord leaks that showed that US intelligence 739 00:30:20.202 --> 00:30:24.322 had assessed Iran was preparing to widely target American troops 740 00:30:24.521 --> 00:30:26.281 with a new type of IED 741 00:30:26.521 --> 00:30:28.362 and that this man was responsible for 742 00:30:28.362 --> 00:30:31.641 shaping these attacks and ordering reconnaissance of. 743 00:30:31.833 --> 00:30:33.343 US patrols and supply routes, 744 00:30:33.634 --> 00:30:34.093 Israel, 745 00:30:34.193 --> 00:30:34.823 the US, 746 00:30:34.833 --> 00:30:35.693 or someone else, 747 00:30:36.034 --> 00:30:37.673 the mystery remains unsolved. 748 00:30:37.754 --> 00:30:41.534 But one of the biggest problems of Mossad's assassination campaign 749 00:30:41.793 --> 00:30:44.114 is their targets hide in tunnels 750 00:30:44.313 --> 00:30:47.984 with anywhere from around 450 miles as claimed by the IDF 751 00:30:48.354 --> 00:30:49.163 of tunnels, 752 00:30:49.394 --> 00:30:54.264 with around 450 miles of tunnels as claimed by the IDF engineers, 753 00:30:54.433 --> 00:30:57.534 and about 5700 entrance shafts 754 00:30:57.913 --> 00:31:00.135 targeting a A man named Issa 755 00:31:00.385 --> 00:31:02.895 would be like finding a needle in a haystack. 756 00:31:03.145 --> 00:31:04.926 That could be anywhere inside a zone 757 00:31:05.345 --> 00:31:09.206 that contains 3.2 tunnels per square mile of surface area. 758 00:31:09.446 --> 00:31:10.066 That's insane. 759 00:31:10.186 --> 00:31:12.765 That's literally more square miles of tunnels 760 00:31:13.145 --> 00:31:14.426 than of surface, 761 00:31:14.546 --> 00:31:16.166 and they're probably lousy 762 00:31:16.456 --> 00:31:17.895 with freaking reptilians. 763 00:31:18.145 --> 00:31:21.615 Israel hunts down Marwan Issa to these tunnels, 764 00:31:21.906 --> 00:31:25.135 a suspected mastermind behind the October 7th attacks, 765 00:31:25.426 --> 00:31:25.845 and 766 00:31:26.017 --> 00:31:28.817 is the deputy commander of Hamas' military wing. 767 00:31:29.177 --> 00:31:32.488 No details are provided of how Issa was targeted, 768 00:31:32.738 --> 00:31:33.728 let alone discovered, 769 00:31:34.017 --> 00:31:36.277 but the strike could have been carried out at a point 770 00:31:36.618 --> 00:31:39.517 where the tunnel that he occupied ran close to the surface. 771 00:31:39.817 --> 00:31:40.657 In these attacks, 772 00:31:40.738 --> 00:31:42.797 it's common to double tap a target, 773 00:31:43.177 --> 00:31:44.978 with the first bomb softening the soil 774 00:31:44.978 --> 00:31:47.838 and the second delivering catastrophic kinetic energy 775 00:31:48.177 --> 00:31:49.868 that collapses tunnel support. 776 00:31:50.017 --> 00:31:55.010 It's also possible Israel struck deep and used A stockpile of blue 109s, 777 00:31:55.089 --> 00:31:57.449 a 2000 pound bomb with a hardened penetrator. 778 00:31:57.689 --> 00:32:00.359 It's warhead designed specifically to destroy these tunnels. 779 00:32:00.810 --> 00:32:04.609 Sometimes the operation led to intense diplomatic backlash against Israel, 780 00:32:04.930 --> 00:32:07.280 like what happened on the April 1st, 781 00:32:07.489 --> 00:32:09.040 2024 strike. 782 00:32:09.329 --> 00:32:11.349 So diplomatic compounds are known for 783 00:32:11.569 --> 00:32:13.849 being a kind of acknowledged safe space. 784 00:32:13.890 --> 00:32:14.930 You can't touch me here. 785 00:32:15.160 --> 00:32:19.930 Embassies around the world are pre-agreed to as safe zones where everyone agrees. 786 00:32:20.041 --> 00:32:21.271 To put away the violence. 787 00:32:21.521 --> 00:32:21.842 However, 788 00:32:21.952 --> 00:32:22.342 on 789 00:32:22.482 --> 00:32:23.592 April Fool's Day, 790 00:32:23.881 --> 00:32:25.052 that didn't apply. 791 00:32:25.281 --> 00:32:29.751 The Iranian Quds Force commander responsible for overseeing Syria and Lebanon, 792 00:32:30.041 --> 00:32:33.222 was at a meeting in the Iranian consulate in Syria. 793 00:32:33.562 --> 00:32:37.871 There's some disagreement over whether this was a diplomatic compound or not, 794 00:32:38.202 --> 00:32:41.352 but F-thirty-fives hit the compound in the capital of Damascus. 795 00:32:41.641 --> 00:32:43.631 Likely because of the sensitive location here, 796 00:32:43.641 --> 00:32:45.661 Israel never confirmed or took credit 797 00:32:46.041 --> 00:32:47.001 and never said that they were. 798 00:32:47.144 --> 00:32:48.254 responsible for the hit, 799 00:32:48.593 --> 00:32:50.394 could have plausibly been America, 800 00:32:50.713 --> 00:32:52.734 but Iran condemned it as a war crime, 801 00:32:52.744 --> 00:32:55.933 and technically the attack would constitute a war crime 802 00:32:56.073 --> 00:32:59.154 as embassies are civilian targets protected 803 00:32:59.154 --> 00:33:01.343 by international law of armed conflict. 804 00:33:01.583 --> 00:33:02.234 However, 805 00:33:02.593 --> 00:33:04.953 because of their support for global terrorism, 806 00:33:05.274 --> 00:33:07.953 Quds Force is considered a terrorist organization 807 00:33:07.953 --> 00:33:10.213 by the United States and several other countries 808 00:33:10.433 --> 00:33:12.874 that label the IRGC as a whole, 809 00:33:12.913 --> 00:33:14.114 a terrorist organization. 810 00:33:14.469 --> 00:33:16.430 So Rahami and his crew 811 00:33:16.630 --> 00:33:19.760 were likely not just hanging around the embassy playing checkers, 812 00:33:20.109 --> 00:33:22.810 they were likely using the compound as diplomatic shield from 813 00:33:22.810 --> 00:33:25.849 which to plan and coordinate with their terrorist buddies. 814 00:33:26.189 --> 00:33:30.349 So while the attack gained widespread international outrage from many countries, 815 00:33:30.750 --> 00:33:33.189 the attack was potentially legal if the 816 00:33:33.189 --> 00:33:36.089 compound lost its protected civilian status. 817 00:33:36.364 --> 00:33:37.964 But by September 2024, 818 00:33:38.084 --> 00:33:40.265 all these years of surveillance, 819 00:33:40.525 --> 00:33:42.724 recruited sources and penetration 820 00:33:42.925 --> 00:33:44.405 were beginning to compound. 821 00:33:44.685 --> 00:33:48.435 Mossad was now coming for the very man who was at the very top. 822 00:33:48.765 --> 00:33:53.324 Hezbollah had spent more than three decades protecting Hassan Nasrallah, 823 00:33:53.444 --> 00:33:54.625 barely a week 824 00:33:54.915 --> 00:33:58.305 after thousands of Hezbollah pagers and radios exploded. 825 00:33:58.689 --> 00:34:01.810 Israeli intelligence learned that Nasrallah would be 826 00:34:01.810 --> 00:34:06.489 meeting senior commanders inside Hezbollah's deep underground headquarters 827 00:34:06.680 --> 00:34:09.688 buried deep beneath Beirut's southern suburbs. 828 00:34:10.010 --> 00:34:10.510 So deep, 829 00:34:10.688 --> 00:34:14.139 they believed that it was out of reach of any bunker busters. 830 00:34:14.330 --> 00:34:16.030 But on September twenty-seventh, 831 00:34:16.280 --> 00:34:18.208 Israeli aircraft struck the complex, 832 00:34:18.399 --> 00:34:20.219 leveling several buildings above it. 833 00:34:20.530 --> 00:34:24.270 Nasrallah was killed alongside other senior Hezbollah figures, 834 00:34:24.330 --> 00:34:26.800 and Iranian Revolutionary Guard generals. 835 00:34:27.129 --> 00:34:28.040 Israel had now killed. 836 00:34:28.384 --> 00:34:32.033 8 of Hezbollah's 9 most senior military commanders that year. 837 00:34:32.533 --> 00:34:37.322 Looking back on the 3 years of targeted killing campaigns since October 7th, 838 00:34:37.724 --> 00:34:41.373 Israel has effectively killed almost every single 839 00:34:41.373 --> 00:34:43.974 significant leader involved in the terror attacks. 840 00:34:44.083 --> 00:34:46.733 They took a shot at destroying the Iranian regime that had 841 00:34:46.733 --> 00:34:50.313 funded and supported proxy terror groups throughout the Middle East, 842 00:34:50.523 --> 00:34:53.513 but it was unable to topple the regime as of yet. 843 00:34:53.694 --> 00:34:57.092 The assassination campaign has weakened and in some cases, 844 00:34:57.103 --> 00:34:57.894 almost completely. 845 00:34:58.020 --> 00:35:00.860 Dismantled much of the proxy network in Lebanon, 846 00:35:00.979 --> 00:35:01.340 Gaza, 847 00:35:01.379 --> 00:35:02.139 and Syria. 848 00:35:02.489 --> 00:35:02.879 However, 849 00:35:03.139 --> 00:35:08.000 it's morphing now and changing shape to try to survive popping up in Yemen and Iraq. 850 00:35:08.379 --> 00:35:11.379 So how effective was this assassination campaign? 851 00:35:11.659 --> 00:35:15.219 Targeted killings are extremely effective at destroying people. 852 00:35:15.419 --> 00:35:17.820 They're less reliable at destroying 853 00:35:17.929 --> 00:35:18.360 organizations. 854 00:35:18.540 --> 00:35:20.219 Hamas replaced its leaders, 855 00:35:20.500 --> 00:35:24.280 but is now facing the possibility of laying down arms in the future, 856 00:35:25.010 --> 00:35:26.290 although I'll believe it when I see it. 857 00:35:26.620 --> 00:35:27.659 Hezbollah survived. 858 00:35:27.784 --> 00:35:31.104 By decentralizes and refuses to disarm still. 859 00:35:31.264 --> 00:35:34.104 The IRGC absorbed enormous leadership losses, 860 00:35:34.185 --> 00:35:37.294 only to become even more central to the Iranian state. 861 00:35:37.705 --> 00:35:40.725 One of the lessons has been decapitation works best 862 00:35:41.024 --> 00:35:44.245 when you're also destroying the body underneath the head. 863 00:35:44.465 --> 00:35:45.854 If you found this interesting, 864 00:35:46.104 --> 00:35:49.074 check out our whole someone's assassination series. 865 00:35:49.304 --> 00:35:53.004 playlist is here from cartel bosses to Putin's inner circle. 866 00:35:53.225 --> 00:35:54.814 I think you'll really like it. 867 00:35:54.985 --> 00:35:56.024 I'm Chris Cappy, 868 00:35:56.304 --> 00:35:57.364 ending transmission.