ReutersAt the funeral of Hezbollah members after the pager explosions, this image of Hezbollah leader Nasrallah was shown in Kfar Melki in Lebanon
NOS News•today, 10:08•Changed today, 14:17
Hezbollah leader Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike last night. Hezbollah confirmed this in a statement. The Israeli army had previously reported that Nasrallah had not survived last night’s Israeli airstrike on Beirut.
Several sources already reported at the time that Nasrallah was the target of the heavy bombardment. The Israeli army says it has attacked Hezbollah’s underground headquarters in a southern suburb of Beirut.
Besides Nasrallah, other senior leaders of the militant movement are also believed to have been killed. Among them is Ali Karki, the commander of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
‘Not the end of the battle’
The commander of the Israeli army says that Nasrallah’s death does not mean the end of the offensive against Hezbollah. The attack on the movement’s leadership has been prepared for a long time, Lieutenant General Halevi said. An army spokesman described Nasrallah as “one of the world’s most influential terrorists”.
At least 11 people were killed and 108 injured in the bombing, according to the Lebanese Health Minister. The attack caused widespread havoc. Six apartment buildings have been destroyed.
AFPThe enormous devastation in the south of Beirut, after the attacks last night and last night
Hassan Nasrallah has led Hezbollah since 1992. He took over after his predecessor was killed in an Israeli airstrike. Under his leadership, Hezbollah carried out attacks and bombings on Israeli and Jewish targets worldwide. Attacks on the Israeli embassy in 1992 and a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires in 1994 killed a total of 114 people.
Under Nasrallah’s leadership, Hezbollah’s military capacity grew considerably, largely due to support from Iran. In 2000, Israel withdrew from Lebanon, partly due to armed resistance from Hezbollah. That was important for the formation of his worldview; in an interview with The Washington Post in 2006, he stated that armed struggle is “the only way to fight against the occupying Israel.”
Nasrallah rarely appeared in public. According to experts, only a small group of high-ranking Hezbollah members knew where he was hiding. He reportedly lived in an underground bunker, from where he controlled Hezbollah.
Correspondent Daisy Mohr sees chaos and scared people in Beirut:
Correspondent Daisy Mohr in the center of Beirut: ‘Great chaos, people terrified’
Nasrallah’s death is a major blow to Hezbollah. The militant movement confirmed last Saturday the deaths of fifteen commanders and fighters, including Ibrahim Aqil and Ahmed Wahbi. The commanders, like Nasrallah, were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Beirut.
Aqil was the second member of the so-called Jiha Council, Hezbollah’s main military body, to be killed in a short time. In July, Israel killed senior commander Fuad Shukr. Wahbi commanded military operations of Radwan special forces during the Gaza war until early 2024.
Beepers and walkie-talkies
In addition to air strikes on southern Lebanon, thousands of people were injured in Lebanon and Syria this month after pagers and walkie-talkies exploded. Among them were many members of Hezbollah. According to Hezbollah, Israel is responsible for that attack, American sources also blame Israel, which itself has said nothing about it.
Like what Hassan Nasrallah? Podcast The Day made early this year a profile about the man who was the leader of Hezbollah for more than thirty years.
