Netanyahu left Israel to ‘trick’ Hezbollah leader

Benjamin Netanyahu left Israel for New York to “trick” Hezbollah’s leader into thinking he was safe, a senior Israeli official told The Telegraph.

Lev Tsitrin’s intelligent “hunch” was right yesterday.

Mr Netanyahu’s address to the UN was part of a “diversionary plan” intended to make Hassan Nasrallah believe Israel would not take drastic action with the prime minister out of the country.

Mr Nasrallah was believed to be watching Mr Netanyahu’s speech “and was then attacked by Israeli Air Force planes”, the official said.

“Netanyahu approved the strike before delivering his speech at the UN,” the official added.

He went on to say that the Israeli assessment was that Mr Nasrallah was in the building at the time of the strike.

There are conflicting reports about his fate, however. Iran has said that the Hezbollah chief is in “good health”.

The attack came minutes after Mr Netanyahu vowed to continue operations against Hezbollah while addressing the UN chamber. He struck a defiant tone, telling delegates that Israel would “continue degrading Hezbollah until all our objectives are met”.

Israel’s prime minister made little mention of the US-led peace plan that aims to establish a 21-day ceasefire between the IDF and Hezbollah.