File footage of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah who has become Israel's target. IDF jets have been conducting air strikes on designated targets in and around Beirut to hit Hezbollah assets and flush out their leader.
LISTEN:The head of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah has been killed by Israel i airstrikes, their army have said.
Under the leadership of the 64-year-old Nasrallah, Hezbollah has fought wars against Israel and taken part in the conflict in neighboring Syria, helping tip the balance of power in favor of President Bashar Assad. A child sleeps on the ground in Beirut's Martyrs' square after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Dahiyeh
The country say they are now on high alert for a broader conflict - although they say they hope Nasrallah's death will cause the Iran-backed group to change course. A source close to Hezbollah told AFP on condition of anonymity that contact with Nasrallah had been lost since Friday evening. Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah addresses the crowd in Beirut's southern suburbs on January 29, 2004
In a statement, they said that he had been killed 'while planning an imminent terror attack' and had previously carried out multiple attacks, including rocket fire on the Golan Heights. Hassan Nasrallah had become a shadowy figure, seldom making public appearances in spite of his reputation in Lebanon. He came to the world's attention last week when he vowed swift retaliation for a series of explosions across the country.
A man shows a photo of Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary-general of Hezbollah, as people demonstrate against Israel and the attack on Lebanon at Palestine square in Tehran Read More Israeli PM 'tricked' Hezbollah by flying to the US before authorising IDF airstrikes 'This could be called a declaration of war,' Nasrallah told his followers, acknowledging that women and children had been killed in the attacks.
His willingness to stand against Israel, and its main ally in the U.S., earned him respect and popularity from some of those who remember Israel reaching Beirut during its bid to oust the Palestine Liberation Organization from Lebanon in 1982. Lebanese people who fled their homes stay overnight on the streets of Beirut amid the mass exodus from the south of the country
He studied theology and joined the Amal movement, a Shiite political and paramilitary organization, before becoming one of Hezbollah's founders. Still, it was Nasrallah who built the initial power base as Hezbollah became part of a cluster of Iranian-backed factions and governments known as the Axis of Resistance.
When Syria's civil war erupted in 2011, Hezbollah fighters rushed in, siding with Assad's forces - even though Hezbollah's popularity took a dive as the Arab world ostracised Assad. If he has been killed just days into Israel's dramatic foray forth into Lebanon, Hezbollah's stability and grip over Lebanon will be shaken. Israel will hope to capitalise on the success - and Iran will faced with difficult and urgent decisions.
This week airstrikes have killed more than 720 people in Lebanon, including dozens of women and children, according to Health Ministry statistics. A number of people have been injured in Israel. Ettie Higgins, Unicef's deputy representative in Lebanon, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'We are seeing thousands and thousands of people leave the southern suburbs of Beirut towards safety or any area at all that can give them safety.'
The Israeli military said a surface-to-surface missile was fired from Lebanese territory and fell in an open area in central Israel. Israeli media said the missile fell in the sea. No injuries or damages were reported, according to Israel's Fire and Rescue Services. It has since emerged that Israel did not inform the White House of the impending strikes before they began - despite being in the country and the US being one of Israel's closest allies.
However, another source said that Hezbollah's senior leadership was unreachable following Israel's strikes. Remaining unperturbed, further Israeli attacks resumed on Beirut on Friday evening close to 11.30pm, with explosions reported in parts of the city and three buildings reduced to rubble. 'As of this time, there is no change in the directives of the Home Front Command. We will update any changes immediately on the official platforms of the Home Front Command,' it said.
In a televised address, Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari said Israel will not tolerate the civilian airport in Beirut being used for military purposes.
'In the last few days, we revealed who Hezbollah is hiding in southern Lebanon, and now we will reveal how it is planting strategic weapons and means of warfare in the heart of Beirut's Dahieh - so that buildings will serve as a shield.' Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has convened an emergency session of Iran's Supreme National Security Council at his home, the New York Times reported.
'These were unprecedented, multiple, loud and successive explosions – really the loudest explosions that we have heard in the capital.' 'We must defend ourselves against these savage murderers. Our enemies seek not only to destroy us, they seek to destroy our common civilization and return all of us to a dark age of tyranny and terror,' he told delegates.
Netanyahu's speech made no mention at all of the 21-day ceasefire proposal made by the US, France and other allies on Wednesday, which seeks to cool tensions and allow space for talks, as the region appears to be on the brink of all-out war. A rescuer fights the blaze amid the smouldering rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli air strike in the Haret Hreik neighbourhood of BeirutUnconfirmed reports suggest that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was the target of the attack Hezbollah, for its part, has not commented on the truce proposal.
'This reprehensible crime... represents a dangerous escalation that changes the rules of the game,' the Iranian embassy said in a post on X, adding that Israel 'will receive the appropriate punishment'. The Israeli military called for an immediate evacuation of some specific buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs for the first time, Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a post on X.
Singh declined to say what Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told Austin about the operation and whether it targeted the Iran-backed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. The Pentagon declined to speculate on whether Nasrallah was still alive.The Biden administration has been seeking to contain the crisis from spiralling further. Austin has publicly warned that an all-out conflict between Israel and Hezbollah would be devastating.
Smoke billows over southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Tyre, Lebanon September 27, 2024 Protesters gathered outside the UN condemning Netanyahu, who has vowed to continue with the battle against Hamas until 'total victory' is achieved.
He denounced the UN, as he has repeatedly done in the past, labelling it as 'a house of darkness' and a 'swamp of antisemitic bile' and saying Israel should be treated as fairly as other nations. Read More The Hezbollah terror tunnels standing in the way of Israeli troops 'Mr Netanyahu, stop this war now,' Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said as he closed his remarks, pounding the podium.
Hezbollah began attacking Israel almost immediately after October 7, saying near-daily rocket fire into northern Israel over the past 11 months was to show its solidarity with Gaza. One man holds up a photo on his phone of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who is believed to have been potentially killed in the airstrikesRead MoreEXCLUSIVE PODCAST: Listen to our dispatch from Beirut for the latest as the crisis in Lebanon deteriorates IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari has said Israel intends to keep operations 'as short as possible' and insisted the military makes 'vast efforts not to hit civilians'.
He said the punishing airstrikes this week were designed to 'prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah.' Lebanese people, fleeing southern Lebanon, walk with their belongings along the Damour highway towards Beirut amid a mass exodus of displaced people seeking shelter
Military officials said Ibrahim Kobeisi, directing the group's missile and rocket unit, was killed during its bombardment of Beirut on Tuesday.
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