The Israeli military said it had targeted Hizbullah’s central headquarters in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday in an attack that shook the Lebanese capital and sent thick clouds of smoke over the city.
At least six people were killed and 91 were wounded in the strike, according to Lebanon’s health ministry on Friday night but it added that the toll was not final.
The news outlet Axios cited an Israeli source as saying Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was the target of the strike and that the Israeli military was checking if he was hit.
A source close to Hizbullah told Reuters that Nasrallah was alive, while Iran’s Tasnim news agency also reported he was safe.
A senior Iranian security official told Reuters that Tehran was checking his status.
Iran-backed Hizbullah’s al-Manar television reported that four buildings were destroyed and there were many casualties in the multiple strikes, which marked a major escalation of Israel’s conflict with the heavily armed Hizbullah.
Al-Manar’s live feed showed search-and-rescue teams scrambling over concrete and protruding metal, with a correspondent for the TV station saying the attack had left several large craters and damaged many surrounding buildings.
The Israeli military claimed it had carried out a “precise strike” on Hizbullah’s headquarters which it claimed were “embedded under residential buildings in the heart of the Dahiyeh in Beirut”.
Further blasts were later reported in Beirut and the Israeli Defense Forces said it was conducting targeted strikes on weapons belonging to Hizbullah.
It was by far the most powerful attack carried out by Israel in Beirut during nearly a year of conflict with Hizbullah.
The conflict between Israel and Hizbullah has escalated sharply this week, with Israeli air strikes killing more than 700 people in Lebanon.
Israel has struck the Hizbullah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut, known as Dahiyeh, four times over the last week, killing at least three senior Hizbullah military commanders.
But Friday’s attack was far more powerful, with multiple blasts shaking windows across the city, recalling Israeli air strikes during the war it fought with Hizbullah in 2006.
In a televised statement, Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari claimed the central command centre was embedded deep within civilian areas.
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The strikes hit Beirut shortly after Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said, in a closely watched United Nations speech, Israel would continue its attacks on Iranian-backed fighters in Lebanon, as hopes faded for a ceasefire that could head off an all-out regional war.
Speaking the UN General Assembly, Mr Netanyahu said: “As long as Hizbullah chooses the path of war, Israel has no choice, and Israel has every right to remove this threat and return our citizens to their homes safely.
“Israel has been tolerating this intolerable situation for nearly a year. Well, I’ve come here today to say enough is enough.”
[ Hizbullah and Israel: Their bitter history explainedOpens in new window ]
Several delegations walked out as Mr Netanyahu approached the lectern while supporters in the gallery cheered.
Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati said the attack showed Israel did not care about global calls for a Lebanon ceasefire.
The United States did not have advanced warning of the Beirut strike and US defence secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart as the operation was ongoing, a Pentagon spokesperson said on Friday.
Israel says its campaign aims to secure the safe return home of tens of thousands of people who were forced to evacuate homes in northern Israel because of rocket attacks Hizbullah has been carrying out in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas, which is fighting Israel in Gaza.
This week’s escalation has displaced about 100,000 people in Lebanon, increasing the total number of people uprooted in the country by the conflict to well over 200,000. – Reuters