A big poster of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah bearing the slogan “The weapons of the resistance is the pleasure of the Arab Nations,” hangs above a girl standing on her balcony in a Beirut avenue, on November 20, 2006. Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group confirmed on September 28, 2024 that Nasrallah had been killed, after Israel stated it had “eradicated” him in a strike on south Beirut a day earlier. (AFP)
BEIRUT, Lebanon – Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has been killed, the Lebanese motion stated Saturday, dealing a seismic blow to the Iran-backed group that has been engaged in a 12 months of cross-border hostilities with Israel.
Hezbollah’s assertion confirms earlier bulletins from Israel’s navy that they’d killed Nasrallah in an air strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs, in a transfer that would destabilize Lebanon as a complete.
“Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary Common of Hezbollah, has joined his nice, immortal martyr comrades whom he led for about 30 years,” Hezbollah stated in an announcement.
Not often seen in public, Nasrallah loved cult standing amongst his Shiite Muslim supporters, and was the one man in Lebanon with the ability to wage struggle or make peace.
Earlier than his loss of life was confirmed, a supply near Hezbollah informed AFP contact with the group’s chief had been “misplaced” since Friday evening.
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“Hassan Nasrallah is lifeless,” Israeli navy spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani had introduced earlier on X.
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One other navy spokesman, Captain David Avraham, informed AFP the Hezbollah chief had been “eradicated” in Friday evening strikes on Beirut.
Iran’s supreme chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday condemned what he known as Israel’s “short-sighted” coverage within the area.
“The bloodbath of the defenceless folks in Lebanon as soon as once more… proved the short-sighted and silly coverage of the leaders of the usurping regime,” Khamenei stated in an announcement, with out mentioning Nasrallah’s destiny.
Hezbollah started low-intensity cross-border assaults a day after its Palestinian ally Hamas staged its unprecedented assault on Israel on October 7.
Israel has over the previous few days shifted the main target of its operation from Gaza to Lebanon, the place heavy bombing has killed greater than 700 folks and displaced round 118,000.
Israel’s military chief Lieutenant Common Herzi Halevi on Saturday stated: “The message is easy, anybody who threatens the residents of Israel — we are going to know the right way to attain them.”
The navy additionally stated “a lot of the senior leaders of Hezbollah have been eradicated”, after having introduced earlier the deaths of Hezbollah commanders Muhammad Ali Ismail and Ali Karake, amongst others.
‘Very subtle’
The navy added that it had hit over 140 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon since Friday evening.
It continued to pound Hezbollah’s south Beirut stronghold into Saturday, sending panicked households fleeing.
One strike hit the second and third flooring of a constructing, a Lebanese safety official stated.
An AFP photographer stated dozens of buildings have been destroyed.
The blasts that rocked southern Beirut late Friday have been the fiercest to hit the world since Israel and Hezbollah final went to struggle in 2006.
Within the Haret Hreik neighbourhood, an AFP photographer noticed craters as much as 5 metres (16 toes) large.
Center East professional James Dorsey described Friday’s assault as “very subtle”, including it “demonstrates not solely important technological capability however simply how deeply Israel has penetrated Hezbollah”.
Earlier than it was confirmed, Iranian media downplayed the report from Israel of Nasrallah’s loss of life, describing it as “rumours”.
Posters of Nasrallah have been erected in Tehran bearing the slogan “Hezbollah is alive”.
Israeli navy spokesman Shoshani later stated there was “nonetheless a strategy to go” in Israel’s combat towards Hezbollah, including that it was believed to have “tens of 1000’s of rockets”.
‘On the streets’
After Friday’s heavy strikes, Israel issued recent warnings for folks to go away a part of the densely populated Dahiyeh suburbs earlier than daybreak.
Tons of of households spent the evening outdoors, in central Beirut’s Martyrs’ Sq. or alongside the seaside boardwalk.
South Beirut resident Rihab Naseef, 56, slept outdoors a church.
“I didn’t even pack any garments, I by no means thought we would go away like this and instantly discover ourselves on the streets,” Naseef informed AFP.
Israel’s navy additionally introduced strikes Saturday on the Beqaa space in japanese Lebanon and on the south.
It stated a surface-to-surface missile fired from Lebanon fell in an open space in central Israel and one other was intercepted within the north.
Early Saturday, Hezbollah claimed a rocket assault on kibbutz Kabri in northern Israel.
It later stated it launched “a salvo of Fadi-3 rockets” in the direction of the Ramat David airbase in northern Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to maintain combating Hezbollah till the northern border with Lebanon is secured.
“Israel has each proper to take away this menace and return our residents to their properties secure,” he stated.
‘Outrageous threats’
Israel has raised the prospect of a floor operation towards Hezbollah, prompting widespread worldwide concern.
“We should keep away from a regional struggle in any respect prices,” UN chief Antonio Guterres informed world leaders, once more interesting for a ceasefire.
Diplomats have stated efforts to finish the struggle in Gaza have been key to halting the combating in Lebanon and bringing the area again from the brink.
Hamas’s October 7 assault on Israel resulted within the deaths of 1,205 folks, principally civilians, in line with an AFP tally based mostly on Israeli official figures that embrace hostages killed in captivity.
Of the 251 hostages seized by militants, 97 are nonetheless held in Gaza, together with 33 the Israeli navy says are lifeless.
Israel’s retaliatory navy offensive has killed not less than 41,586 folks in Gaza, most of them civilians, in line with figures supplied by the Hamas-run territory’s well being ministry. The UN has described the figures as dependable.
The Lebanon violence has raised fears of a wider spillover, with Iran-backed militants throughout the Center East vowing to maintain combating Israel.
Netanyahu addressed Iran in his UN Common Meeting speech, saying: “I’ve a message for the tyrants of Tehran. In case you strike us, we are going to strike you.”
“There is no such thing as a place in Iran that the lengthy arm of Israel can’t attain.”
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Iran’s Overseas Minister Abbas Araghchi on the Safety Council denounced what he known as Netanyahu’s “outrageous threats to invade different states and kill extra folks”.
