Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert revealed on Saturday night that Israel was behind the elimination of Imad Mughniyeh, the former head of the military wing of Hezbollah, in February 2008 in Damascus.
Speaking in an interview with Channel 13 News, Olmert revealed the details of the elimination. "There was a situation, we didn't talk about it in the past, but it seems to me that today we can already admit this fact. 16 years ago we eliminated the greatest, the most despicable, the most despicable mass murderer they ever had, who built the entire army of Hezbollah, Imad Mughniyeh."
He added that the elimination was carried out "in the country where he lives, not in Lebanon, in another country, and there were all kinds of other dramatic aspects that I can't talk about and don't want to talk about."
Olmert also revealed that the explosion that led to the elimination of Mughniyeh was not in the seatback as has been claimed in the past. "What exploded was actually the bumper of the vehicle; we made sure to place the explosive there, so that when Mughniyeh passes by, exactly at the point where he passes, there will be one of us who would know to press the button and get him.
Mughniyeh was responsible for planning and carrying out many terrorist acts in Lebanon and around the world and became one of the most wanted terrorists in the world. He was at the top of the FBI’s list of most wanted terrorists.
In the aftermath of Mughniyeh’s death, both Hezbollah and Syria blamed Israel for killing Mughniyeh, and Hezbollah had vowed to avenge his death.
In 2012, around the fourth anniversary of the elimination, then-Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who was eliminated in an IDF strike in Beirut on Friday, threatened to hurt senior Israeli officials in revenge for Mughniyeh’s death.
Hebrew video: Olmert discusses Mughniyeh’s elimination