The Israeli security cabinet under Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir met on 14 March 1988 to discuss assassinating him. Although Shamir could have given the order on his own, he was aware of the potential ramifications of assassinating such a high-profile figure and did not want to take sole responsibility.

The security cabinet approved the assassination by a vote of 6 to 4. The Washington Post reported on 21 April that the Israeli cabinet approved al-Wazir's assassination on 13 April.

The assassination, codenamed Operation Introductory Lesson, had been planned by the Mossad for over a year. Mossad agents had scouted routes to his home from the nearby beach and mapped his neighborhood. The Mossad and Israeli military intelligence had tracked his movements and tapped his telephone lines. Under the plan, a naval flotilla backed by air cover would land commandos on the Tunisian coast, where they would be driven to his home by waiting Mossad agents and kill him. Ehud Barak, the IDF Deputy Chief of Staff, was placed in overall command of the operation.

On 14 April, six Mossad operatives arrived in Tunis on flights from Europe. Three of them rented two Volkswagen Transporters and a Peugeot 305, which would be used to ferry the raiding force from the beach to his home. Another three were deployed to as lookouts, positioning themselves behind a clump of trees to monitor his home and ensure that he was there. Under the plan, the drivers would evacuate by sea with the commandos while the lookouts would leave Tunisia on commercial flights after the operation.

At the same time, an Israeli Navy flotilla sailed towards Tunisia, halting 25 miles off the Tunisian coast on 15 April. It consisted of five missile boats carrying 33 Sayeret Matkal and Shayetet 13 commandos along with a mobile hospital and communications equipment, a larger vessel disguised as a cargo ship and fitted out as a helicopter carrier with a reserve Sayeret Matkal unit ready to intervene if the operation went awry, and the Gal-class submarine INS Gal providing an underwater escort. The Israeli Air Force provided cover overhead with a Boeing 707 communications aircraft to serve as a communications relay, monitor Tunisian communications, and stand by to jam Tunisian radar and air control if needed, and F-15 fighter jets patrolling off the Tunisian coast ready to provide backup.

At dusk on 15 April, after the INS Gal surveyed the shore and reported that the beach was deserted, the commando force headed out towards the shore in rubber dinghies....

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