Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah speaking on September 19, 2024 (Al-Manar TV\Screenshot)
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said on September 28 that it was certain that Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah was killed in a wave of strikes that targeted the main headquarters of the group in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, a day earlier.
In a statement, the military said that alongside Nasrallah, the commander of Hezbollah’s Southern Front, Ali Karaki, and other senior members of the group were also killed.
“The strike was carried out while the top brass of Hezbollah were at their headquarters and engaged in coordinating terror activities against the citizens of the State of Israel,” it added.
Six buildings in the southern Beirut suburbs of Dahieh were flattened by the strikes. Between nine and 300 people were killed, according to various media reports. Hebrew media even reported that Nasrallah’s daughter was among those killed in the strikes..
The strikes were reportedly conducted by the Israeli Air Force elite 119th “Bat” Squadron, utilizing F-16I Sufa jet-fighters that dropped advanced American-made 5,000-pound bunker buster bombs.
IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi vowed after the announcement that Israel will reach anyone who threatens the country and its citizens.
“This is not the end of the toolbox. The message is simple, to anyone who threatens the citizens of the State of Israel, we will know how to get to them,” he said.
Hezbollah has remained silent since the Israeli strikes on Dahieh. The group is yet to confirm or deny the claims made by the IDF.
The confrontation between Israel and Lebanon broke out after the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip last October, with Hezbollah and its allies launching near-daily attacks against the IDF in support of the Hamas Movement and other armed factions in Palestinian enclave.
The IDF escalated its strikes against Lebanon earlier this week to a level not seen since the war of 2006. In response, Hezbollah expanded its attacks deep into northern Israel.
Nasrallah is a key figure in the so-called Axis of Resistance which includes Hezbollah, Iran, Syria as well as several armed factions from Iraq, Yemen and other Arab countries. His death, if confirmed, could spark an unprecedented confrontation in the Middle East.
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