Hezbollah confirms leader Nasrallah killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
Hezbollah confirms its leader Hassan Nasrallah has been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut building on Friday evening • Confirmation given hours after Israeli military says it killed Nasrallah
Updated at 2:12pm with Hezbollah statement
Hezbollah has confirmed its leader Hassan Nasrallah has been killed in an airstrike on Beirut, hours after the Israeli military announced his elimination.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli attack on Friday that targeted a building in Beirut's southern neighbourhood where Hezbollah's headquarters was believed to be.
Hezbollah, a militant Shia Islamist movement in Lebanon that enjoys Iran's backing, confirmed on Saturday that its leader was killed in an Israeli air strike and vowed to continue the battle against Israel.
A statement on Saturday said Nasrallah “has joined his fellow martyrs”. The statement adds that Hezbollah vows to “continue the holy war against the enemy and in support of Palestine”.
Nasrallah led the militant group for more than three decades and his death could dramatically reshape conflicts across the Middle East.
Earlier, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said 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.”
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. Several other leading Hezbollah figures were also killed.
Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah was an influential figure in the Middle East with very close personal ties with Iran.
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 over the past week. The intensified strikes started with a covert operation that saw pagers and radios used by Hezbollah explode. Hundreds of people in Lebanon have died as a result of the air strikes.
Last night’s bombardment of Hezbollah infrastructure was by far the most intense. Airstrikes continued throughout Saturday morning. 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.
Nasrallah's death is a significant blow to Hezbollah and is likely to inflame tensions in the Middle East.
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