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

(Beirut, Jerusalem) Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a strike near Beirut, dealing a devastating blow to the pro-Iran movement and pushing Lebanon and the Middle East into the unknown.

The death on Friday of the man who was considered the most powerful man in Lebanon risks destabilizing the country, and constitutes a major victory for Israel against Iran and its allies in the region.

“Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has joined his fellow martyrs,” announced Hezbollah, closest ally of Iran, Israel’s sworn enemy, on Saturday, almost 20 hours after the strike.

He was killed with other members of the movement “in a treacherous Zionist raid” on the southern suburbs of Beirut, stronghold of the Shiite movement, Hezbollah added, without specifying their identities.

“Hassan Nasrallah is dead,” an Israeli army spokesperson said earlier after the devastating raid which the army said targeted Hezbollah headquarters.

With the elimination of Nasrallah, “we have settled our scores” and “we are determined to continue to strike our enemies,” declared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Lebanon and Iran have declared national mourning.

According to an Israeli military statement, Ali Karaké, presented as the commander of Hezbollah’s southern front, as well as other executives, were killed alongside Nasrallah in the operation called “New Order”.

A source close to Hezbollah confirmed Karaké’s death.

Hachem Safieddine, a prominent figure in Hezbollah, appears to be a potential successor to his cousin Hassan Nasrallah.

“One of the greatest enemies”

According to the Iranian agency Irna, Abbas Nilforoushan, deputy head of the Revolutionary Guards, Iran’s ideological army, was killed in Friday’s strike.

“Nasrallah was one of the greatest enemies of the State of Israel of all time,” said army spokesman Daniel Hagari.

At the head of Hezbollah since 1992, Hassan Nasrallah, 64, was a man of religion who was the subject of a veritable cult of personality among the Shiite community in Lebanon. For years he had lived in hiding and rarely appeared in public.

Just after the confirmation of his death, cries rang out in the neighborhoods of Beirut welcoming displaced people from Shiite areas. “Don’t believe them, they’re lying, the Sayed is fine!” », shouts a woman veiled in black on a motorbike with her husband.

According to the army, “most” of Hezbollah’s senior leaders were killed during Israeli operations in recent months.

“Israel has infiltrated Hezbollah”

The attack on Nasrallah “was very sophisticated. This demonstrates not only enormous technological capabilities, but also the extent to which Israel has infiltrated Hezbollah,” explains James Dorsey, researcher at the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore.

The strikes on the southern suburbs destroyed several buildings, according to an AFP photographer, and forced thousands of residents to flee. According to a provisional report from the Lebanese authorities, at least six people died.

Iraq, Syria, as well as the Houthi rebels of Yemen condemned the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, as did the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, at war against Israel in Gaza.

On Saturday afternoon, warning sirens sounded in central Israel after a missile strike from Yemen, according to the army, with the Houthis later claiming responsibility for a missile strike towards Ben Gurion airport.

Rocket fire by Hezbollah

Financed and armed by Iran, Hezbollah was created in 1982 at the initiative of the Revolutionary Guards.

“The line” of Nasrallah “will continue and its sacred objective will be achieved with the liberation of al Quds (Jerusalem),” promised Tehran.

His predecessor, Abbas Moussaoui, was killed in February 1992 by an Israeli raid on his convoy in Lebanon.

Despite the blows dealt by Israel, which constantly bombs Hezbollah strongholds, the movement announced on Saturday that it had fired rockets against northern Israel, most of which were intercepted.

Last Monday, the Israeli army launched a violent and deadly bombing campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, after a year of cross-border firefights with the Lebanese formation.

Hezbollah opened a front against Israel at the start of the Gaza war, sparked by an attack on October 7, 2023 against Israel led by Hamas, its ally.

Israel claims to be acting to stop Hezbollah’s fire towards the north of its territory, bordering southern Lebanon, and thus allow the return of tens of thousands of residents forced to flee.

New strikes

On Saturday, the Israeli army indicated that it had carried out strikes on “140 Hezbollah targets” since Friday evening. A new Israeli strike targeted the southern suburbs of Beirut, hitting a building, according to a security source.

The Israeli army announced late Saturday afternoon a new “precise” strike on the same area, with a security source in Lebanon reporting a strike on a warehouse near Beirut airport, adjoining the stronghold of Hezbollah.

France demanded “the immediate cessation of Israeli strikes in Lebanon”, indicating that it was “opposed to any ground operation” in the country.

Faced with “the deterioration of the security situation”, the European Commission and the European Aviation Safety Agency have recommended that airlines avoid the airspaces of Lebanon and Israel until October 31.

Washington ordered the departure of the families of its embassy employees in Lebanon and also “urged” “American citizens to leave Lebanon”, while Berlin announced the evacuation of the families of its diplomats in Israel, Lebanon and the West Bank. busy.

In one year of cross-border exchanges of fire, the number of people killed in Lebanon has reached 1,640 deaths (including 1,030 since September 16), according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, a heavier toll than that of the 33 days of war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.