The extensive bombardment operations carried out by Israel and the United States in Iran, most notably those said to have resulted in the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, have once again drawn attention to what has been described as a “suffocation approach” relied upon to ensure the success of assassination operations, particularly those targeting deeply fortified underground sites.
Due to frequent intelligence gaps, the occupation is said to have turned to exploiting the “chemical by products” of explosions as a means of killing through mass suffocation. This shift was not the result of prior strategic planning, but rather stemmed from what has been described as an accidental discovery in 2017.
The Kissufim Tunnel
In October 2017, the occupation army uncovered an offensive tunnel dug by the Islamic Jihad movement. The tunnel extended from the Gaza Strip, crossing the border for a distance of up to two kilometres near the settlement of Kissufim.
At the time, then Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot was on an overseas visit, and his deputy Aviv Kochavi assumed command of the situation. He reportedly ordered the air force to destroy the tunnel using bunker buster bombs, with strict instructions to avoid causing a large number of martyrs in order to prevent major escalation.
A report published by +972 Magazine stated that the “surprise came when it became clear that the bombing, carried out outside the Gaza Strip, led to the martyrdom of all the fighters inside the tunnel on the Palestinian side hundreds of metres and even kilometres away.”
The report added that “even more astonishing was the death of 12 members of Islamic Jihad rescue teams who entered the tunnel hours after the bombing to retrieve bodies. They all suffocated despite wearing protective masks.” Brigadier General in reserve Guy Hazut, who was commanding a division in the Southern Command at the time, reportedly described the incident as a “breakthrough moment” in Israeli military understanding.
He explained that the army realised toxic gases generated by the bombs remained trapped underground, effectively turning tunnels into “death traps” from which survival was impossible.
Subsequent physical and chemical studies conducted by the Israeli air force after the 2017 incident concluded that an explosion in a confined space such as a tunnel produces a compounded “chemical effect”.
According to the report, a bunker buster bomb consumes oxygen in the tunnel at the moment of detonation. Due to the oxygen deficiency, incomplete combustion of explosive materials occurs, generating vast quantities of carbon monoxide gas.
Carbon monoxide is known as the silent killer. It is colourless and odourless and binds to haemoglobin in the blood at a rate 200 times stronger than oxygen, preventing oxygen from reaching vital organs and causing rapid death by suffocation.
Within tunnel environments, the tunnel structure functions like a conduit or pocket, directing gas over long distances at lethal concentrations. This means that the army no longer needs to strike a target directly, but can instead “poison” the air inside a tunnel or at the entrance of a fortified underground site.
The First Field Test
In May 2021, during the escalation of aggression against the Gaza Strip, the occupation army reportedly shifted from accidental discovery to deliberate planning. A plan known as Operation Lightning was devised to lure hundreds of Hamas fighters into tunnel networks by creating the impression of an impending ground invasion, before bombing tunnel entrances with bunker buster bombs, according to the Israeli magazine and a previous Anadolu Agency report.
The objective was not merely to physically destroy tunnels but to “suffocate” those inside them. Although the operation did not result in the deaths of hundreds as reportedly anticipated, Gaza’s Ministry of Health confirmed at the time that the bodies of fighters who had died from gas suffocation without visible wounds had been received, reinforcing claims about the effectiveness of the “new tactic”.
During the war of extermination against the Gaza Strip that began in October 2023, the occupation army expanded the use of what is referred to as the “tiling” strategy, involving the bombardment of entire residential blocks with dozens of heavy bombs to ensure that tunnel networks beneath them became saturated with toxic gases.
This tactic led to a major ethical crisis in November 2023 when Israel targeted a tunnel in Jabalia where senior figure Ahmad Ghandour was present. The bombing did not kill Ghandour alone but also led to the deaths of three Israeli captives, Ron Sherman, Nick Beizer and Elia Toledano, who were reportedly being held with him, according to the magazine.
Autopsy reports later revealed that the captives died from suffocation due to toxic gases resulting from the Israeli bombardment. Maayan Sherman, the mother of one of the captives, accused the army of deliberately killing her son with toxic gas, stating that his body showed no fractures or visible wounds.
Nasrallah
The assassination of former Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah in September 2024 was presented as the clearest application of this tactic on the northern front. At that time, the occupation reportedly dropped 80 tonnes of MK84 bunker buster bombs on the central headquarters located 90 feet underground, approximately 27 metres.
Channel 12 and Maariv reported that “Nasrallah was assassinated by suffocation in painful agony” as toxic gases leaked into the fortified room, which became a completely sealed space after its entrances collapsed. The absence of ventilation within the fortified site reportedly turned the chemical by products of the explosion into the primary means of killing, which, according to the report, explains why his body remained intact without shrapnel injuries.
The Assassination of Khamenei
Israeli sources stated that during the joint American Israeli attack on Iran, which began on Saturday morning, 30 bombs were dropped on the residence of the Iranian Supreme Leader.
Channel 12 reported: “Thirty bombs were dropped on the compound. Ali Khamenei was underground, but it is possible he was not in his private shelter.”
Earlier on Saturday, Channel 12 published satellite imagery it claimed showed a complex linked to Khamenei, displaying what appeared to be signs of destruction affecting buildings within a compound believed to belong to the Iranian Supreme Leader.
It remains unclear what condition Khamenei’s body was found in, and whether he was killed using the same alleged Israeli tactic of inducing suffocation.
This strategy raises an international legal dilemma. Under the Chemical Weapons Convention, the use of choking and toxic gases in warfare is prohibited. Israel defends its actions by stating that it employs “legitimate conventional weapons” and that any gases produced are an unintended “secondary product” of explosions.
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