Israeli military says Hezbollah leader Nasrallah has been killed in Beirut strike
Israel says Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has been killed in overnight strikes in Beirut, dealing a significant blow to the Shia militant movement
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Saturday morning that Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has been killed in overnight airstrikes.
In a statement shared on the IDF's X account, it said: “Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorize the world.”
Hezbollah has not yet commented on the latest news.
The IDF’s statement follows a series of overnight strikes in Lebanon’s capital Beirut, which Israel said were targeting Nasrallah and other Hezbollah commanders.
Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah is the leader of Lebanon's militant Shia Islamist movement Hezbollah. He is an influential figure in the Middle East with very close ties with Iran that supports Hezbollah.
Nasrallah has not been seen in public for years because of fears of being assassinated by Israel.
Revered by the group's supporters, Nasrallah played a key role in turning Hezbollah into the political and military force it is today. Hezbollah is designated a terrorist organisation by the US, the EU and other countries.
Under Nasrallah's leadership, Hezbollah has helped train fighters from the Palestinian armed group Hamas, as well as militias in Iraq and Yemen, and obtained missiles and rockets from Iran for use against Israel.
Hezbollah has been lobbing rockets and missiles across the border into Israel since October last year as a sign of solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza. The people of Gaza have faced the wrath of Israeli attacks following the October massacre of Israeli nationals by Hamas militants.
The exchange of fire between Hezbollah and the Israeli military forced the displacement of thousands of Israeli and Lebanese residents from towns near the border.
Israel has made it a war aim to return its citizens to the border area, prompting a series of intense attacks on Hezbollah outposts that started with a covert operation that saw pagers and radios used by the militant group explode.
Last night’s bombardment of Hezbollah infrastructure was by far the most intense with Israel saying it was targeting Nasrallah and the Hezbollah leadership. The heavy attacks came on the back of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s defiant speech at the UN General Assembly in New York.
Netanyahu gave short shrift to any hope of a ceasefire demanded by western powers in a bid to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East.
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