what we know about the strikes in Beirut that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, according to Israel

The Lebanese movement and support of Iran and Hamas has not officially confirmed the death of its emblematic leader, after a bombing on Friday which targeted its “headquarters” according to Israel.

This would be a major blow against one of Israel’s main enemies. The Israeli army announced on Saturday September 28 that it had killed the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, in a strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut late Friday afternoon. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, this powerful bombardment caused the collapse of dozens of buildings and left at least six dead, while many residents fled the area. Hezbollah, for its part, has not confirmed the death of its historic leader. Franceinfo summarizes what we know about this possible turning point in the war in the Middle East.

Strikes on Hezbollah HQ on Friday

The Israeli army carried out intense strikes in the Haret Hreik neighborhood, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, around 6:30 p.m. Friday (5:30 p.m. in Paris). These bombings of rare intensity, in a densely populated neighborhood, caused thick columns of smoke and sowed panic among residents. In a provisional report, the Lebanese Ministry of Health reports at least six deaths and 91 injured, and mentions dozens of buildings destroyed. At the site of the strikes, several huge craters measuring up to five meters in diameter were visible, according to AFP photographers.

Shortly afterwards, Israel declared that it had conducted a “precise strike” on the “headquarters” of Hezbollah. The army spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, clarified that this headquarters “located under residential buildings”. This announcement immediately raised questions in the Israeli media and throughout the region about the fate of Hassan Nasrallah.

Throughout the night from Friday to Saturday, Israeli strikes continued in several areas of the southern suburbs of Beirut. After an evacuation warning issued Friday evening by the Israeli army, hundreds of residents fled in haste towards the capital, a few kilometers away. Entire families slept in the street, in the city center or along the corniche.

A death announced Saturday morning

Saturday morning, theIsraeli army claimed to have achieved its objective: “Hassan Nasrallah is dead”said an army spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, on the social network “eliminated”another army spokesperson confirmed to AFP. “Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorize the world”wrote the official English account of the Israeli army.

Hassan Nasrallah “doing well”assured AFP Friday evening an anonymous source close to Hezbollah. But on Saturday morning, after the Israeli army’s announcement, a close source, still anonymous, explained to the French agency that the “contact is lost” with the leader of the movement since Friday eveningwithout confirming his death.

According to an Israeli military statement, Ali Karaké, presented as the commander of Hezbollah’s southern front, and other commanders of the movement were killed in the same bombing on Friday. The army then claimed that the “most” senior Hezbollah leaders had been “eliminated” during Israeli operations in recent months.

A hard blow for the Lebanese Islamist movement

If verified, the death of Hassan Nasrallah would once again strike Hezbollah in the heart, after the series of deadly explosions which targeted the Islamist group’s telecommunications means in mid-September. Hassan Nasrallah, 64, was a Shiite cleric who was the subject of a veritable cult of personality in Lebanon. He had become one of the most powerful men in the country by being at the head of Hezbollah, a true state within a state.

With part of the international community having placed the Islamist group on the list of terrorist organizations, and Israel having made it a target, Hassan Nasrallah lived in hiding and rarely appeared in public. In a 2014 interview with the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbarreported by Young Africathe leader of Hezbollah declared that he regularly changed his place to sleep, while ensuring that he did not live a recluse.

If his death is confirmed, “another leader will emerge”estimates on franceinfo Sébastien Boussois, researcher and specialist in the Middle East. “There will be second knives who will take over”. After Friday’s strike, Hezbollah did not lose all its means of action. The Islamist group announced on Saturday that it had fired rockets into northern Israel, targeting Kibbutz Kabri in northern Israel, in response to the attacks. “barbarians” from Israel “on towns, villages and civilians” in Lebanon.

SATURDAY, The Israeli army chief of staff has warned of moves that could target his country in response to the death of Hassan Nasrallah. “We have not exhausted all the means at our disposal. The message is simple: whoever threatens the citizens of Israel, we will know how to reach them”warned General Herzi Halevi in ​​a press release.

An “effective”, “radical” and deadly strategy

In Lebanon, “we can clearly see that the deliberate Israeli strategy (…) is much more effective and radical” than in Gaza, observes Sébastien Boussois, evoking methods to which “we didn’t expect”. Israeli operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon will continue “until all our goals are achieved”Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the UN on Friday, a few hours before the strike targeting Hassan Nasrallah, dampening hopes of a truce proposed on Wednesday by France and the United States.

Since Monday, Israeli bombings have left more than 700 dead, mostly civilians, according to a report released by the Lebanese Ministry of Health before Friday evening’s strikes. In one year, the number of people killed in Lebanon rises to more than 1,500, a death toll higher than that of the 33 days of war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006. Israel has also said it is preparing for a possible ground incursion , which would be “so short” as possible, according to an Israeli security official.

On Saturday, the Israeli army said it had carried out strikes on “140 Hezbollah targets” since Friday evening in southern and eastern Lebanon, and claimed to have killed one of his commanders and his deputy in a raid in southern Lebanon.