Hassan Nasrallah death: Israeli military confirms airstrike killed Hezbollah chief in Beirut

The Israeli military claims to have killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike on the group’s central headquarters in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Hezbollah officials on Saturday could not immediately be reached for comment on the Israeli army statement and the Iran-backed group has yet to issue any statement on the status of Nasrallah, who has led them for 32 years.

During his decades in charge, Hezbollah had grown into a regional force that had projected Tehran’s influence across the Middle East.

His death would not only mark an enormous blow to Hezbollah, but also to Iran, whose Revolutionary Guards founded the group in 1982.

The Israeli military “eliminated Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Hezbollah terrorist organisation,” Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote in a statement on X.

The Israeli military said in a separate post: “Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorise the world.”

The attack on Hezbollah’s command centre, followed by further airstrikes on Saturday, have escalated the conflict between Israel and the heavily armed group.

At least six people were killed and 91 were wounded, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said, during an attack that appeared likely to push the escalating conflict even closer to a fully-fledged war.

The death toll was likely to rise significantly as teams combed through the rubble of six buildings.

Israel launched a series of strikes on other areas of the southern suburbs following the initial blast.

It said it had struck dozens of Hezbollah targets on Saturday in east and south Lebanon, with fighter jets “extensively” attacking the Bekaa Valley as the onslaught continued.

A surface-to-surface missile fired from Lebanon fell in an open area in central Israel.

On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had addressed the United Nations, vowing that Israel’s intensified campaign against Hezbollah over the past two weeks would continue — further dimming hopes for an internationally backed ceasefire.

The Israeli PM then sat down with his officials in a room in New York, picked up his phone and approved the order to take out Nasrallah.

Mr Netanyahu left the US to return home shortly afterwards.

Israeli army spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the strikes targeted the main Hezbollah headquarters, saying it was located underground beneath residential buildings.

The series of blasts around nightfall reduced six apartment towers to rubble in Haret Hreik, a densely populated, predominantly Shiite district, according to Lebanon’s national news agency. A wall of billowing black and orange smoke rose into the sky as windows were rattled and houses shaken some 30km north of Beirut.

Footage showed rescue workers clambering over large slabs of concrete, surrounded by high piles of twisted metal and wreckage.

Several craters were visible, one with a car toppled into it. A stream of residents carrying their belongings were seen fleeing along a main road out of the district.

Israel provided no immediate comment about the type of bomb or how many it used, but the resulting explosion levelled an area greater than a city block. Israel’s air forces followed with a new set of strikes on Saturday, also in the southern suburbs, shortly after warning residents of three buildings to evacuate. It said they were being used by Hezbollah to hide weapons, including anti-ship missiles.

Israel’s military announced additional attacks on Beqaa in eastern Lebanon and Tyre in the south.

To a degree unseen in past conflicts, Israel spent the week pushing to eliminate Hezbollah’s senior leadership. But the attempt to assassinate Nasrallah, successful or not, was a major escalation. The Pentagon said the US had no advance warning of the strikes.

Nasrallah has been in hiding for years, very rarely appearing in public. He regularly gave speeches, but always by video from unknown locations.

The site hit on Friday evening had not been publicly known as Hezbollah’s main headquarters, although 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.

Iran-backed Hezbollah, the strongest armed force in Lebanon, began firing rockets into Israel almost immediately after Hamas’ October 7 attack, saying it was a show of support for the Palestinians.

Since then, it and the Israeli military have traded fire almost daily, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee on both sides of the border.

Iran said Friday’s attack crossed “red lines”.