Israel and Hamas at war, day 358 | Hezbollah confirms the death of its leader

(Tel Aviv) The Lebanese group Hezbollah has confirmed that its leader and one of its founders, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in an Israeli airstrike.

A statement released Saturday said Nasrallah “has joined his fellow martyrs.”

The statement said Hezbollah was committed to “continuing the holy war against the enemy and in support of Palestine.”

Nasrallah led the activist group for more than three decades. His death could radically reshape conflicts across the Middle East.

Israel announced earlier Saturday that it had killed the leader of Hezbollah, dealing the biggest blow to the Lebanese militant group after months of fighting.

Nasrallah is by far the most powerful target to be killed by Israel during weeks of intensified fighting with Hezbollah. The army said it carried out a precise airstrike on Friday, as Hezbollah leaders gathered at their headquarters in Dahiyeh, south of Beirut.

Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said Saturday that the elimination of Nasrallah was “not the end of our toolbox,” indicating that more strikes were planned. He said the strike targeting Hezbollah leaders was the result of a long period of preparation.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said six people were killed and 91 injured in Friday’s strikes, which flattened six apartment buildings. The Israeli military also announced the death of Ali Karki, commander of Hezbollah’s southern front, and other Hezbollah commanders.

The Israeli military said it was mobilizing additional reserve soldiers as tensions with Lebanon escalate, activating three battalions of reserve soldiers to serve across the country. The call comes after two brigades were sent to northern Israel earlier this week to train for a possible ground invasion.

Army spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said the airstrike was based on years of tracking Nasrallah as well as “real-time intelligence” that made it viable. He said Nasrallah’s death had been confirmed by various types of intelligence, but declined to give further details.

Shoshani said Israel had inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah’s capabilities over the past week by targeting a combination of immediate threats and strategic weapons, such as larger guided missiles. He said, however, that much of Hezbollah’s arsenal remained intact and that Israel would continue to target the group.

“It’s not a threat that has disappeared,” he maintained.

According to Shoshani, it is “reasonable to assume” that Hezbollah will retaliate and that Israel is “in a high state of readiness.”

But he added that Israel hopes the blow to Hezbollah will change the course of the war.

“We hope this will change Hezbollah’s actions,” he said. “We are looking for solutions, we are looking for a change in reality that will bring our civilians home,” he added, referring to the approximately 60,000 Israelis who have been evacuated from their homes along the Lebanese border for nearly ‘one year.

Earlier this month, the Israeli government declared that stopping Hezbollah attacks in the north of the country to allow residents to return home was an official war objective.

Mr. Shoshani declined to say what munitions were used in the strike or provide an estimate of civilian deaths in the attack, saying only that Israel takes steps to avoid civilians whenever possible. and authorizes strikes in advance with intelligence and legal experts.

It was not immediately clear what effect the strike will have on Hezbollah or the fighting between the two camps that has lasted for nearly a year. Israel has vowed to step up pressure on Hezbollah until it ceases attacks that have displaced tens of thousands of Israelis from communities near the Lebanese border. Recent fighting has also displaced more than 200,000 Lebanese in the past week, according to the United Nations.

Iran calls for support for Hezbollah

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a message broadcast on state television on Saturday that “the resistance movement, led by Hezbollah, will decide the fate of the region.”

“All regional resistance forces must stand alongside and support Hezbollah,” he argued. He added that Hezbollah was strong enough to resist Israeli attacks. Iran is the main backer of Lebanese Hezbollah and other militant groups in the region.

Also on Saturday, Iran’s influential parliamentary national security committee demanded a “strong” response to Israel following a committee meeting. State television also said people had organized anti-Israel rallies in support of Hezbollah in the country’s main cities and towns.

A “historic moment”

Nasrallah’s death is a “historic moment,” said Orna Mizrahi, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv-based think tank, and a former intelligence analyst for the Israeli military and the Prime Minister’s office. “This does not mean that Hezbollah is destroyed, because Hezbollah is made up of tens of thousands of people,” she said.

M^me Mizrahi noted that Nasrallah was at times a “voice of reason,” who wanted to engage Israel in a war of attrition and prevent the militant group from using the full force of its arsenal against Israel. If Nasrallah is eliminated, it could prompt some lesser members of Hezbollah to unleash weapons much more powerful than those used in the nearly year-long exchange of hostilities between Hezbollah and Lebanon, a- she declared. The biggest question mark now, however, is how Iran will respond, Mr.^me Mizrahi.

She added that Nasrallah’s reported death could provide Lebanon with a window of opportunity, while the organization is significantly weakened, to dilute Hezbollah’s considerable influence, particularly in the south, which threatens to drag Lebanon down in a full-scale war with Israel.

On Saturday morning, the Israeli army carried out several strikes in southern Beirut and in the Bekaa plain in eastern Lebanon. Hezbollah launched dozens of projectiles into northern and central Israel as well as the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

In Beirut’s southern suburbs, smoke billowed and streets were empty after the area was bombarded overnight by heavy Israeli airstrikes. Shelters set up in the city center for displaced people were overflowing. Many families slept in public squares and beaches or in their cars. On the roads leading to the mountains above the capital, hundreds of people could be seen making an exodus on foot, holding babies and whatever else they could carry.

At least 720 people have been killed in Lebanon over the past week by Israeli airstrikes, according to the Health Ministry.

With Agence France-Presse