Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an attack on Beirut, the Israeli military said today. A source close to Hezbollah told AFP news agency that contact with 64-year-old Nasrallah had been lost since Friday night.
“Hassan Nasrallah is dead,” military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani announced to X.
Hassan Nasrallah is dead.
– LTC Nadav Shoshani (@LTC_Shoshani) 28 September 2024
The Israeli strikes targeted dozens of Hezbollah targets in eastern and southern Lebanon, following an intensified rocket attack by the group in northern Israel. Israeli jets bombed Hezbollah strongholds in southern Beirut overnight, destroying several residential buildings.
“Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorize the world,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorize the world.
– Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) 28 September 2024
Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said in a statement, “This is not the end of our toolbox. The message is simple, whoever threatens Israeli civilians – we will know how to reach them.”
The wave of retaliatory attacks came just hours after Hezbollah claimed responsibility for launching rockets into northern Israel. One such attack targeted Kibbutz Kabri using Fadi-1 rockets, which Hezbollah said was in defense of Lebanon against Israeli “barbaric” aggression.
Nasrallah, who wields immense power in Lebanon, especially among his Shiite supporters, is widely seen as the only person capable of waging war or making peace.
Israel’s Channel 12 reported that one of the air strikes targeting Hezbollah strongholds in southern Beirut killed his daughter, Zainab, 64, although there was no confirmation from Hezbollah or Lebanese media. Is.
Nasrallah was rumored to have been assassinated following Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 2006. However, the Shia leader reemerged a few days later without any injuries. Israeli strikes also killed Hezbollah’s Southern Front commander Ali Karakay and other Hezbollah members.
“During Hassan Nasrallah’s 32-year reign as Secretary General of Hezbollah, he was responsible for the murder of numerous Israeli civilians and soldiers and for planning and carrying out thousands of terrorist acts,” an Israeli statement said. “He was responsible for directing and executing terrorist attacks around the world in which civilians of various nationalities were murdered. Nasrallah was the organization’s central decision maker and strategic leader.”
Air raid sirens were heard across northern Israel, signaling imminent danger from rockets launched across the Lebanese border. According to Israeli military reports, two surface-to-surface missiles were fired from Lebanon, one of which fell in an open area, while the other was intercepted.
Lebanon’s health ministry ordered the evacuation of hospitals in Beirut’s southern suburbs in anticipation of further damage. The ministry urged unaffected hospitals to stop admitting non-emergency patients to make room for patients transferred from conflict-affected areas.
Israeli bombing of Lebanon killed more than 700 people and displaced about 118,000.