Hezbollah's aid to Assad allowed Israel to spy on terror group - report

The intelligence information gathered over the years by Israel on Hezbollah, especially in the context of the terror group's involvement in the Syrian civil war, enabled Israel's recent attacks on Hezbollah, culminating in the Friday elimination of the terror group's chief Hassan Nasrallah, according to a Monday Financial Times report.   

The report noted, citing current and former officials, that since 2006 and the Second Lebanon War, the quality and extent of the intelligence Israel was able to gather on the terror group had changed significantly.

The civilian war in Syria, in which Hezbollah supported the Assad regime, was an opportunity for Israel to glean intelligence information on the terror group.  

According to the report, while Hezbollah was increasing its reach in Syria, it also expanded the aperture via which Israel could infiltrate it. 

Hezbollah 'had to reveal themselves in Syria'

In Syria, the terror group had to enlist new recruits and communicate with other entities, such as the Assad regime and Russian intelligence. In addition, the obituaries and funerals of Hezbollah terrorists further granted information on the terrorists, their whereabouts, and that of more senior officials. 

An ex-senior Lebanese political was cited as saying by the Financial Times that the terrorists "had to reveal themselves in Syria."

One of which was cited in the report was the IDF Unit 9900 in the Intelligence Directorate, which combs through various visual information in search of minor shifts that point to a lead.  

This allowed Israel, according to the report, to locate Nasrallah at brief intervals, ultimately eliminating him.