But the Americans had something even more concrete — a human source, both people familiar with the situation said. The CIA declined to comment.

That allowed Israeli jets, which had been flying for hours in order to arrive on time at the right location, to fire off as many as 30 precision munitions, the former senior Israeli intelligence official said.

Killing foreign leaders is not just taboo but operationally fraught. Failure only adds to their stature, as it did following the CIA’s many botched attempts to kill Cuba’s Fidel Castro, while success can set into motion unpredictable chaos.

Paywalled Source article