Israel's superlative strikes on Hezbollah have been mesmerizing and historic.
These were not spontaneous, off-the-cuff attacks by Israel. Each and every aspect of the strikes took long, tedious, minute periods of planning.
The only questions were when and then in what order and what frequency the strikes would be launched.
Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, did not ascend from his bunkers often except to switch locations. The only way to target him was to destroy his bunker.
The amount of intelligence required and gathered was truly inspiring — not just the location of the bunker, but where he would be inside the bunker at the time of the strike to insure that the "bunker buster" bomb would accurately hit the target and eliminate Nasrallah and not simply wound him. That was impressive.
Israel's air force needed to launch the missiles from a specific altitude and at a specific gradient angle to insure the maximum penetration of the weapon. Israel used about 80 tons of armaments in the attack.
Each "bunker buster" bomb weighs 1 ton or 2,000 pounds. They are designed to first penetrate the ground and the continue burrowing before exploding.
From the information released it looks like Nasrallah's body was not mangled or maimed. He either died of the explosion, which causes the body organs to expand internally, or the from poison produced as a result of the bunker being destroyed.
Nasrallah and Iran miscalculated.
These enemies of Israel incorrectly concluded that Israel would not launch such an attack while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in New York City at the U.N. General Assembly. They were wrong.
Actually, that was part of Israel's plan.
Israel needed to know what room Nasrallah was in at the time of the strike. The only way to know that,was to strike while Nasrallah and his closest aides were in the media-viewing room watching Netanyahu's speech at the U.N.
Knowing that there was a viewing room, knowing where it was located in the bunker, and knowing that they would be watching was equivalent to being "a fly on the wall." Israel had that much intel on the leader of Hezbollah and his innermost secure sanctum.
That was impressive.
Iran and Hezbollah misunderstood Israel's skills and talents, as well as its technology and drive. And most importantly, they miscalculated the Jewish state's commitment to defend itself.
They thought that Hamas' successful massacre of Oct. 7 was the new Israel.
They thought that Israel was ill prepared and incapable. They thought that the great might of Israel was gone and Israel was now vulnerable and beatable.
The fact that Israel was ill prepared for Oct. 7, although true, was an anomaly.
Israel is proving that with these remarkable operations, which are successfully destroying Hezbollah's leadership.
Iran has understood its miscalculation.
That is why, according to press coverage, the Grand Ayatollah has been relocated to a secure secret bunker. I am certain that Iran is hoping that its bunker is more secret and more secure than Nasrallah's was.
In response to Nasrallah's assassination, Iran has acted in defense of its minion Hezbollah and launched several hundred rockets, drones, and missiles toward Israel.
Iran knew that the vast majority of its projectiles would be unsuccessful. It knew that Israel's missile defense system would intercept them as happened on that Saturday night in April, when Iran launched over 300 projectiles toward Israel.
In this case, Iran needed to save face and defend its fellow Shiites and their mentees. For Iran this was a gesture and a symbol.
I have no doubt that despite Iran's warnings, Israel will respond to Iran's launching of these rockets. The targets have already been selected and the plans have already been drawn up.
Just like with Hezbollah, these targets and plans have been in place for a very long time. The questions are what is their target and when and in what order will Israel strike.
The U.S. is calling for a cease-fire.
Israel will not heed that call from the U.S. or, for that matter, from any ally. Israel will pursue its short-term objectives, and it will stop only after it has met its goals.
Israel's enemies bent on destroying the country have not yet learned the biggest lesson: Do not underestimate Israel.
Micah Halpern is a political and foreign affairs commentator. He founded "The Micah Report" and hosts "Thinking Out Loud with Micah Halpern," a weekly TV program, and "My Chopp," a daily radio spot. Follow him on Twitter @MicahHalpern. Read Micah Halpern's Reports — More Here.
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