BEIRUT: Lebanon Hezbollah group confirmed on Saturday that its boss and one of its founders, Hassan Nasrallahwas killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut the previous day. A statement on Saturday said Nasrallah had “joined his fellow martyrs” and the group pledged to “continue the holy war against the enemy and in support of Palestine”.
Israel’s military said it carried out a precision airstrike on Friday while Hezbollah’s leadership was meeting at its headquarters in Dahliasouth of Beirut. Nasrallah, who led Hezbollah for more than three decades, is the most powerful target killed by Israel in weeks of intensified fighting with Hezbollah.
Lebanon’s health ministry said six people were killed and 91 injured in the attacks in Beirut on Friday, which brought down six residential buildings. Ali Karki, the commander of Hezbollah’s Southern Front, and other Hezbollah commanders were also killed in the attack, the Israeli military said. Iran said a prominent general in its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard was killed in the airstrike. Abbas Nilforoushan, 58, was killed on Friday in Lebanon, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported.
Israel’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said Saturday that the elimination of Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah “is not the end of our toolkit,” indicating that more strikes are planned. “The message is simple, anyone who threatens the citizens of Israel – we will know how to get to them,” Chief of the General Staff Herzi Halevi said in a statement. Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesman, said the airstrike was based on years of tracking Nasrallah along with “real-time information” that made it viable. Shoshani declined to say what munitions were used in the strike or give an estimate of civilian deaths, saying only that Israel takes measures to avoid civilians when possible and clears the strikes ahead of time with intelligence and legal experts.
In response to Nasrallah’s killing, Israeli Embassy in India spokesman Guy Nir warned that those who threaten Israeli civilians will be found and eliminated, adding that Israel is prepared for many scenarios.
Hamas: Let the resistance continue
In a statement, the Palestinian armed group Hamas offered condolences to its ally Hezbollah. Nasrallah often described the rocket fire against northern Israel as “support” for Hamas and the Palestinians in Gaza. “History has proven that the resistance … when its leaders die as martyrs, will be succeeded in the same way by a generation of leaders who are braver, stronger and more determined to continue the confrontation,” Hamas said.
He added that “the killings will only increase the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine in determination and determination.” It was not immediately clear what effect the strike would have on Hezbollah or the fighting between the sides.
Israel will increase its attacks
Israel has vowed to step up pressure on Hezbollah until it halts its attacks, which have driven nearly 60,000 Israelis from communities near the border with Lebanon. Recent fighting has displaced more than 200,000 Lebanese in the past week, according to the United Nations.
The military said it was mobilizing additional reserve soldiers as tensions with Lebanon escalated, activating three battalions of reserve soldiers to serve across the country. The call comes after it sent two brigades to northern Israel earlier in the week to train for a possible ground invasion.
Army spokesman Shoshani said Israel had inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah’s capabilities over the past week, targeting a combination of immediate threats and strategic weapons such as larger, guided missiles. But he said much of Hezbollah’s arsenal still remained intact and that Israel would continue to attack the group. “We hope this will change Hezbollah’s actions,” he said.
140 airstrikes over Beirut
On Saturday, Israel carried out more than 140 airstrikes in southern Beirut and the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon, including against an anti-ship missile storage facility in the Beirut suburb of Dahiya. Hezbollah fired dozens of shells into northern and central Israel and deep into the Israeli-occupied West Bank, damaging some buildings in the northern city of Safed.
