Israel says Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah killed in Beirut strike

Israel’s military said Saturday that it had killed the overall leader of the Iran-backed group Hezbollah in an airstrike the previous day on the group’s “central headquarters” in Beirut, Lebanon. The Friday afternoon strike was the latest in a series of massive explosions targeting leaders of the militant group, which has been firing rockets and drones across Lebanon’s southern border into Israel for almost a year.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a Saturday statement that Nasrallah, who led Hezbollah for more than three decades, “was eliminated by the IDF, together with Ali Karki, the Commander of Hezbollah’s Southern Front, and additional Hezbollah commanders” in a strike by Israeli fighter jets on the group’s command facility “embedded under a residential building” in Beirut’s southern suburbs, which have long been a stronghold of the U.S.-designated terrorist group.

“The strike was conducted while Hezbollah’s senior chain of command were operating from the headquarters and advancing terrorist activities against the citizens of the State of Israel,” the IDF said.

The Friday strikes leveled multiple high-rise apartment buildings in the biggest blasts to hit the Lebanese capital since Hezbollah started firing on Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, in response to Israel launching its war on the group’s Hamas allies in the Gaza Strip. 

At least six people were killed and 91 were wounded in the strike, Lebanon’s health ministry said Friday, noting that the toll could rise as people were believed to be buried under rubble at the site.

A senior Israeli official said Friday that the IDF had sought to minimize civilian casualties by striking in the daytime, when many people wouldn’t be home. He said Israel was not seeking a broader regional war, but that Hezbollah’s military capabilities had been meaningfully degraded by the recent series of Israeli military operations and that the objective of the strike was to leave Hezbollah with a significant leadership gap. 

In a possible early sign of the strikes’ significance, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly cut short a visit to the United States to return home on Friday instead of waiting until the end of Sabbath on Saturday evening, his office said. Israeli politicians do not normally travel on the Sabbath except for matters of great import.

Hours earlier, Netanyahu addressed the U.N., vowing that Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah would continue — further dimming hopes for an internationally backed cease-fire. Several delegates stood up and walked out before he gave his address. 

To a degree unseen in past conflicts, Israel this past week has aimed to eliminate Hezbollah’s senior leadership. Israeli army spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the strikes targeted the main Hezbollah headquarters, located beneath residential buildings. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s office said he was huddling with the head of Israel’s air force and other top commanders at military headquarters, following updates.

In a separate statement Saturday, Israeli Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said Nasrallah’s killing  demonstrated “anyone who threatens the citizens of Israel — we will know how to reach them.” 

The series of gigantic blasts around nightfall on Friday reduced six buildings to rubble in the Haret Hreik neighborhood of Beirut’s Dahiyeh suburbs, according to Lebanon’s national news agency. The shock wave rattled windows and shook houses some 18 miles north of Beirut. TV footage showed several craters — one with a car toppled into it — amid collapsed buildings in the densely populated, predominantly Shiite neighborhood.

Nasrallah had been in hiding for years, very rarely appearing in public. He regularly gave speeches, but always by video from unknown locations. The site hit Friday evening had not been publicly known as Hezbollah’s main headquarters, though it is located in the group’s “security quarters,” a heavily guarded part of Haret Hreik where it has offices and runs several nearby hospitals.

The Pentagon said the U.S. had no advance warning of the strikes.

The White House said President Biden was briefed by his national security team “several times” on Friday and “has directed the Pentagon to assess and adjust as necessary U.S. force posture in the region to enhance deterrence, ensure force protection, and support the full range of U.S. objectives. He has also directed his team to ensure that U.S. embassies in the region take all protective measures as appropriate.”

“The events of the past week and the past few hours underscore what a precarious moment this is for the Middle East and for the world,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a news conference Friday in New York. “Israel has the right to defend itself against terrorism. The way it does so matters. The choices that all parties make in the coming days will determine which path this region is on, with profound consequences for its people now and possibly for years to come.” 

Israel dramatically intensified its airstrikes in Lebanon this week, saying it is determined to put an end to more than 11 months of Hezbollah fire into its territory. The scope of Israel’s operation remains unclear, but officials have said a ground invasion to push the militant group away from the border is a possibility. Israel has moved thousands of troops toward the border in preparation.

Israel’s strikes this week have killed more than 720 people in Lebanon, including dozens of women and children, according to Health Ministry statistics.

A predawn strike Friday in the mainly Sunni border town of Chebaa hit a home, killing nine members of the same family, the state news agency said. A resident identified the dead as Hussein Zahra, his wife Ratiba, their five children and two of their grandchildren.

At the U.N., Netanyahu vowed to “continue degrading Hezbollah” until Israel achieves its goals. His comments dampened hopes for a U.S.-backed call for a 21-day truce between Israel and Hezbollah to allow time for a diplomatic solution. Hezbollah has not responded to the proposal.

Iranian-backed Hezbollah, the strongest armed force in Lebanon, began firing rockets into Israel almost immediately after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, which saw terrorists kill some 1,200 people in Israel and take 251 hostage. Since then, Hezbollah and the Israeli military have traded fire almost daily, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes on both sides of the border.

An Israeli security official said he expects a possible war against Hezbollah would not last for as long as the current war in Gaza, because the Israeli military’s goals are much narrower.

In Gaza, Israel aims to dismantle Hamas’ military and political regime, but the goal in Lebanon is to push Hezbollah away from the border with Israel — “not a high bar like Gaza” in terms of operational objectives, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to military briefing guidelines.

contributed to this report.