Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has been killed, the Iran-backed group said on Saturday, confirming his death after the Israeli military said it had eliminated him in an air strike in Beirut the day before.
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said targeting Nasrallah was “an essential condition to achieving the goals we set”.
In his first public remarks since the killing, Mr Netanyahu said: “He wasn’t another terrorist. He was the terrorist.”
He said Mr Nasrallah’s killing would help bring displaced Israelis back to their homes in the north and would pressure Hamas to free Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
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But with the threat of retaliation high, Mr Netanyahu warned the coming days would bring “significant challenges” and warned Iran against trying to strike.
“There is no place in Iran or in the Middle East that Israel’s long arm cannot reach. And today you know how much that is true,” he said.
Mr Nasrallah’s death marks a major blow not only to Hizbullah but also to Iran. Having led Hizbullah for 32 years, Nasrallah has long been a towering figure in the Tehran-backed “Axis of Resistance”, helping to project Iranian influence across the Middle East.
[ Israel’s assassination of Hizbullah leader is an alarming escalation in conflictOpens in new window ]
Hizbullah said in a statement it would continue its battle against Israel “in support of Gaza and Palestine, and in defence of Lebanon and its steadfast and honourable people”.
It did not say how Mr Nasrallah was killed.
Hizbullah’s Al-Manar TV started airing Koran verses after his death was announced.
The Israeli military said that Nasrallah was eliminated in a “targeted strike” on the group’s underground headquarters beneath a residential building in Dahiyeh – a Hizbullah-controlled southern suburb of Beirut.
It said he was killed along with another top Hizbullah leader, Ali Karaki, and other commanders.
“The strike was conducted while Hizbullah’s senior chain of command were operating from the headquarters and advancing terrorist activities against the citizens of the state of Israel,” it said.
Friday’s air strike on Dahiyeh shook Beirut. A security source in Lebanon said the attack – a quick succession of massively powerful blasts – had left a crater at least 20m deep.
It was followed on Saturday by further air strikes on Dahiyeh and other parts of Lebanon. Huge explosions lit up the night sky, and more strikes hit the area in the morning. Smoke rose over the city.
Residents have fled Dahiyeh, seeking shelter in downtown Beirut and other parts of the city.
“Yesterday’s strikes were unbelievable. We had fled before and then went back to our homes, but then the bombing got more and more intense, so we came here, waiting for Netanyahu to stop the bombing,” said Dalal Daher, speaking near Beirut’s Martyrs Square, where some of the displaced were camping out.
She was referring to Israeli Mr Netanyahu.
US president Joe Biden called Israel’s killing of Hassan Nasrallah “a measure of justice” for his many victims, and said the United States fully supported Israel’s right to defend itself against Iran-supported groups.
Mr Biden said he had directed defence secretary Lloyd Austin to further enhance the defence posture of US military forces in the Middle East to deter aggression and reduce the risk of a broader war.
Ultimately, he said, the US aimed to de-escalate ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon through diplomatic means. He did not address a comment from Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saying Nasrallah’s death would be avenged.
Hizbullah also continued its cross-border rocket fire, setting off sirens and sending residents running for shelter deep inside Israel. Israeli missile defences blocked some of them and there was no immediate report of injuries.
The escalation has increased fears the conflict could spin out of control, potentially drawing in Iran, Hizbullah’s principal backer, as well as the United States.
On Friday, Lebanon’s ministry for transport and public works asked an Iranian plane not to enter Lebanese airspace after Israel warned air traffic control at the Beirut airport that it would use “force” if the plane landed, a source at the Lebanese ministry said. The source said it was not clear what was on the plane, adding: “The priority is people.”
Late on Friday, Israeli military spokesman rear admiral Daniel Hagari said Israeli air force planes were “patrolling the area of the Beirut airport” and would not allow “hostile flights with weapons to land” there.
“We know about Iranian arms transfers to Hizbullah and are thwarting them,” he said.
Hizbullah has fired hundreds of rockets and missiles at targets in Israel, including Tel Aviv. The group said it had fired more on Saturday. Israel’s air defence systems have ensured the damage has so far been minimal.
The Israeli military said the country is on high alert for a broader conflict and it hoped Nasrallah’s death would cause the group to change course.
“We hope this will change Hizbullah’s actions,” lieutenant colonel Nadav Shoshani said in a media briefing. But he said it would still take time to degrade Hizbullah’s capabilities.
“We’ve seen Hizbullah carry out attacks against us for a year. It’s safe to assume that they are going to continue carrying out their attacks against us or try to,” he said.
Hours before the latest barrage, Mr Netanyahu told the United Nations that his country had a right to continue the campaign.
“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,” he said.
Several delegations walked out as Mr Netanyahu approached the lectern. He later cut short his New York trip to return to Israel.
Lebanese health authorities confirmed six dead and 91 wounded in the initial attack on Friday – the fourth on Beirut’s Hizbullah-controlled southern suburbs in a week and the heaviest since a 2006 war.
The toll appeared likely to rise much higher. There was no word on casualties from the later strikes. Israeli strikes have killed more than 700 people this past week, Lebanese authorities said.
Late on Friday, the Israeli military told residents in some parts of Dahiyeh to evacuate, saying it would target missile launchers and weapons storage sites it said were under civilian housing.
Hizbullah denied any weapons or arms depots were located in buildings that were hit in the Beirut suburbs, the group’s media office said.
Alaa al-Din Saeed, a resident of a neighbourhood that Israel identified as a target, was fleeing with his wife and three children.
“We found out on the television. There was a huge commotion in the neighbourhood,” he said. The family grabbed clothes, identification papers and some cash but were stuck in traffic with others trying to flee.
“We’re going to the mountains. We’ll see how to spend the night – and tomorrow we’ll see what we can do.”
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The number of people in Lebanon displaced by the conflict now stands at well over 200,000.
Israel says its aim is to allow tens of thousands of residents evacuated from communities in northern Israel to return to their homes safely. – Reuters
