The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has conducted a new wave of strikes in Lebanon, allegedly targeting the infrastructure of the Hezbollah movement, including the organization's central headquarters in a residential area of Beirut.
According to some media reports, the main target of the attack in Beirut was the top leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah.
West Jerusalem confirmed that it bombed an underground compound belonging to the militant group in the Dahiyeh suburb of Beirut, but did not confirm or deny that Nasrallah was the primary target until Saturday, when it announced that the Hezbollah leader had been killed.
The Lebanese paramilitary group confirmed Nasrallah's death shortly afterwards, hailing him as “a great martyr” and “a heroic, daring, brave, wise, insightful, and faithful leader.”
28 September 2024
An anonymous US official has told ABC News that Israel is preparing to follow up its air campaign with a “limited” ground operation in Lebanon. Rumors of an impending ground operation have circulated for several days, with Israel’s KAN broadcaster reporting that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met with troops training for such a mission on Tuesday.
Israel last sent troops into Lebanon during a large-scale war with Hezbollah in 2006. The IDF lost more than 120 soldiers in the operation, roughly half the number of fatalities suffered by Hezbollah.
A Hezbollah missile has struck East Jerusalem, according to footage captured by Palestinian media. The IDF has said that it detected a single missile fired toward an Israeli settlement east of the city, but provided no further details. Additional footage shot from near the blast site shows a large fire burning.
In his first public statement since Nasrallah’s death, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said eliminating the Hezbollah leader was an “essential condition” for securing the safe return of civilians to Israel’s border regions.
Nasrallah and his commanders were “the architects of the plan to destroy Israel,” Netanyahu claimed, “so I gave the order and Nasrallah is no longer with us.”
US Vice President Kamala Harris has promised to “always support Israel’s right to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis,” in a statement carbon-copied from one put out by the White House earlier on Saturday.
Harris, who is the Democratic Party’s nominee for president, has been criticized by pro- and anti-Israel groups in the US. Her opponent, former President Donald Trump, has accused her of favoring the Palestinian side, while Muslim groups have criticized her for not pressing more strongly for a ceasefire.
Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the leader of Yemen’s Houthi movement, has vowed that Nasrallah’s death “will not be in vain,” and that his forces will be “improving [the] performance” of their attacks on Israel, Al Jazeera has reported.
The Houthis have launched around four dozen missiles and drones at Israel and Israel-lined vessels in the Persian Gulf this week, including a ballistic missile that was intercepted by Israeli air defense near Tel Aviv earlier on Saturday.
The IDF has conducted another series of airstrikes near Beirut’s international airport. Lebanese security sources told AFP that the strikes targeted a warehouse, while footage shared on social media showed smoke rising from the impact site.
The White House has released a statement describing Nasrallah’s death as “a measure of justice for his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis, and Lebanese civilians.”
The statement reiterated that the US “fully supports Israel’s right to defend itself against Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and any other Iranian-supported terrorist groups,” before claiming that Washington seeks “to de-escalate the ongoing conflicts in both Gaza and Lebanon.”
Both US President Joe Biden and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin have claimed that Israel gave them no advance warning of the airstrike that killed Nasrallah.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has condemned Israel for carrying out “yet another political assassination,” referring to the strike that killed Nasrallah.
“This forceful action is fraught with even greater dramatic consequences for Lebanon and the entire Middle East,” the ministry said, adding that Israel “bears full responsibility for the subsequent escalation.”
Hassan Nasrallah’s cousin, Hashem Safieddine, who plays a key role in Hezbollah’s political activities, could be named as the Lebanon-based Shia militia’s new leader, the New York Times has reported, citing three senior Israeli defense officials.
Moscow “resolutely condemns” Israeli attacks that “blatantly violate the sovereignty of… Lebanon,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a UN Security Council meeting on Friday. The developments put the entire Middle East on the brink of a “big war,” he warned, adding that Russia calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and is making diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the situation.
Hezbollah has confirmed that Hassan Nasrallah died in an Israeli airstrike, praising him as “a great martyr” and “a heroic, daring, brave, wise, insightful, and faithful leader.”
Israel has eliminated nearly all of Hezbollah’s military leaders in recent strikes, with only one senior commander of the Lebanese-based group still alive, according to the country’s officials.
The Israeli Defense and Foreign Ministries released two diagrams of Hezbollah’s military chain of command showing that only Abu Ali Rida, the commander of the Bader unit, has so far survived. More than a dozen officials, including the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, are now dead, according to the Israelis.
Lebanon’s Council of Ministers will convene for an emergency session on Saturday evening after Israel claimed to have killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, according to the country’s National News Agency.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been transferred to a secure location after Israel claimed to have killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Reuters reports, citing local sources.
Unnamed officials also told the agency that Iran is maintaining close contact with the Lebanese-based Islamist group to determine what to do next.
A key goal of the Israeli bombardment of Beirut aimed at Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other top members was to avoid a full-scale ground invasion of Lebanon, a senior unnamed Israeli official has said, as quoted by the Times of Israel. He added that Israel is seeking to “break” Hezbollah, claiming that Israeli intelligence had uncovered an Iranian plan to encircle Israel and eliminate it by 2040.
Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, has been killed in a strike on Beirut, the IDF has confirmed. The long-time leader of the group “will no longer be able to terrorize the world,” the brief statement read.
Hassan Nasrallah may have been killed in the strike on Beirut, the Times of Israel reported, citing an Israeli official.
The paper’s source confirmed that West Jerusalem’s strike had indeed targeted the Hezbollah leader, who was believed to be in the command center that was reportedly hit. “It’s very hard to imagine him coming out alive from a strike like that,” the official said.
US President Joe Biden has ordered the Defense Department to respond accordingly to the latest escalation between Israel and Hezbollah, the White House has said.
“He has directed the Pentagon to assess and adjust as necessary US force posture in the region to enhance deterrence, ensure force protection, and support the full range of US objectives,” the statement read.
Tehran has accused Washington of being “complicit” in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon, alleging that the IDF used US-supplied bunker buster bombs on residential areas in Beirut.
“One cannot disregard the US’s complicity in the crime… The Israeli regime used several 5,000-pound bunker busters that had been gifted to them by the United States to hit residential areas in Beirut,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said during a UN Security Council meeting in New York.
The IDF has released footage of some of its sorties in Lebanon earlier tonight, allegedly showing weapons storage facilities, missile launchers, and “terrorist” operation hideouts.
The IDF reported that it detected “about ten” launches and intercepted “some” of the rockets fired from Lebanon toward the Upper Galilee region in northern Israel. Air raid sirens were activated in the area, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
Israel notified Washington about an imminent major airstrike targeting Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah only after the operation was underway and Israeli jets were already in the air, an anonymous US official told The Times of Israel. Another Israeli official claimed the US was warned just “several minutes” before the bombs struck Beirut.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has voiced regret that nobody can “stop” Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, adding that he has made clear that the Israelis won’t “stop until Hezbollah is destroyed.”
“If the interpretation of being destroyed is the same as with Hamas, then we are going to go for a long war,” Borrell says in English.
“What we do is to put all diplomatic pressure to a ceasefire, but nobody seems to be able to stop Netanyahu, neither in Gaza nor in the West Bank,” he added.
The residents of the Dahiyeh neighborhood and other densely populated areas of Beirut are struggling to find refuge from Israeli strikes, with many reportedly gathering at the public beach of Ramlet al-Baida and in the capital’s Martyrs’ Square, according to Al Jazeera.
Israel is once again attacking “Hezbollah terror targets in Beirut,” the IDF has announced.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears to have addressed Israel’s ongoing srikes in Beirut at a Shabbat event shortly before his departure from New York.
”Our enemies thought we were like a spider web. That’s what one of them used to say,” Netanyahu said, apparently referring to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who has repeatedly called Israel a spider web.
”What spider web are they talking about? We have tendons of steel — both of will and power,” he added. “The people of Israel live, and when they need to, they also kick. Today we kicked properly, but not just today. And we will continue to do so.”
The IDF continues to attack Hezbollah targets in Beirut, with local media and witnesses sharing videos of explosions illuminating the night sky.
Hezbollah has accused the Israeli military of indiscriminately bombing civilian homes, denying IDF claims about underground weapons storage.
“The enemy’s false claims regarding the existence of weapons or arsenals in civilian structures that were bombed some time ago in the suburbs of Beirut are untrue,” the movement stated.
The IDF has issued another order for civilians in Beirut to evacuate several areas in the Dahiyeh suburb ahead of imminent strikes, according to Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman.
“You are located near Hezbollah interests and for your safety and the safety of your loved ones, you are obliged to evacuate the buildings immediately and move away from them at a distance of no less than 500 meters,” Adraee said.
“We will continue to operate to precisely dismantle Hezbollah’s offensive capabilities. Hezbollah has strategically embedded weapons in civilian areas, putting Lebanese civilians at risk in order to harm Israeli civilians,” the IDF stated in the announcement, claiming that Israel’s “war is with Hezbollah, not the people of Lebanon.”
The IDF has launched another round of strikes against “additional terrorist targets” in the Bekaa valley some 30 kilometers east of Beirut.
Israeli jets have launched another round of strikes in the Lebanese capital, targeting residential buildings allegedly used as weapons production and storage facilities, and as key command centers. “Following precise IDF intelligence, the IAF is currently conducting strikes on strategic terror targets belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in the area of Beirut,” the IDF has claimed.
The Israeli air strikes in Beirut have been going on for more than two hours, according to media reports.
27 September 2024
The Israeli military claims to have “eliminated” the alleged commander of Hezbollah’s missile unit in southern Lebanon, Muhammad Ali Ismail, and his deputy, Hossein Ahmed Ismail.
“The IAF struck and eliminated the terrorist Muhammad Ali Ismail, the Commander of Hezbollah’s Missile Unit in southern Lebanon, and his deputy, the terrorist Hussein Ahmad Ismail,” the IDF said in a statement, further claiming that “additional Hezbollah commanders and operatives were eliminated alongside them.”
The United States had “no knowledge of or participation in” Israeli strikes on Beirut, President Joe Biden has said. “We’re gathering more information. I’ll have more to say when we have more information,” Biden told journalists after he arrived in Delaware for the weekend.
Israel has launched a series of “targeted strikes on weapons belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization” in the Dahieh neighborhood of Beirut, the IDF has announced.
The death toll from Israel’s bombing of southern Beirut has risen to six, with 91 others wounded, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. However, the number of casualties is expected to increase, as the strike destroyed six residential buildings, burying many people under the rubble.
The IDF has conducted another round of strikes against alleged “terror targets” in southern Lebanon.
“Over the past hour, IAF fighter jets struck dozens of Hezbollah launchers aimed toward Israeli civilians, as well as buildings in which weapons were stored,” it said in a statement.
The leader of the Shia Hezbollah movement, Hassan Nasrallah, is alive following a “massive” airstrike on the group’s central headquarters earlier in the day, Reuters reported, citing a source close to the movement. Iran’s Tasnim news agency also reported that Nasrallah was safe.
Axios reported on Friday, citing an Israeli source, that Nasrallah was the target of the operation and that the Israeli military was checking whether he had been affected by the strike. West Jerusalem did not officially confirm this information. Israeli media maintain that the Hezbollah leader was likely killed in the strike.
The IDF has ordered civilians in Beirut to flee the Dahieh neighborhood, warning them of imminent strikes.
“In the last hour, we have contacted the residents of the three buildings in the Dahieh – these residents are above and near Hezbollah’s strategic assets and must evacuate immediately for their safety and security,” spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said.
Iran has condemned Israeli strikes on the densely-populated southern suburbs of Beirut, warning of a “dangerous escalation.”
“This reprehensible crime... represents a dangerous escalation that changes the rules of the game,” the Iranian embassy in Beirut said in a post on X, adding that Israel “will receive the appropriate punishment.”
Meanwhile, the Iranian foreign ministry condemned it as a “brutal terrorist airstrike on several residential buildings in Beirut.”
The strike came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the UN General Assembly. According to the Times of Israel, Netanyahu was in the middle of a press conference when his military aide, Major General Roman Gofman, whispered something in his ear. A few minutes later, the prime minister abruptly ended the briefing and left.
Netanyahu’s office later released a photo of the prime minister in his New York hotel room, reportedly issuing the order to strike the Hezbollah HQ.
The Israel Defense Forces have conducted an airstrike on the Lebanese capital, targeting the main headquarters of the Shia militia located beneath a civilian neighborhood.
”Moments ago, the Israel Defense Forces carried out a precise strike on the Central Headquarters of the Hezbollah terror organization... taking the necessary action to protect our people so that Israeli families can live in their homes, safely and securely,” IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari stated.
Videos of thick black smoke rising in plumes from the Dahiyeh suburb of Beirut have been circulating on Lebanese media and social networks.