New Delhi. The Israeli military said today that Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an attack on Beirut. A source close to Hezbollah told AFP news agency that contact with 64-year-old Nasrallah had been lost since Friday night. “Hassan Nasrallah is dead,” military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani announced on Twitter.
Israeli strikes targeted dozens of Hezbollah positions in eastern and southern Lebanon, following intense rocket fire by the group in northern Israel. Israeli jets bombed Hezbollah strongholds in southern Beirut overnight, destroying several residential buildings. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement, “Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorize the world.”
Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said in a statement. “This is not the end of our toolbox. The message is simple, anyone who threatens Israeli citizens – we know how to reach them.”
The wave of retaliatory attacks came just hours after Hezbollah claimed responsibility for launching rockets into northern Israel. One such attack targeted Kibbutz Kabri using a Fadi-1 rocket, which Hezbollah said was to defend Lebanon against Israel’s “barbaric” invasion.
Nasrallah, who wields immense power in Lebanon, especially among his Shiite supporters, is widely seen as the only person capable of waging war or making peace. Hassan Nasrallah’s daughter, Zainab, 64, was killed in one of the air strikes targeting Hezbollah strongholds in south Beirut. However, there has been no confirmation from Hezbollah or Lebanese media.
Nasrallah was rumored to have been killed after Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 2006. However, the Shia leader emerged unharmed a few days later. Israeli strikes also killed Hezbollah’s southern front commander Ali Karake and other Hezbollah members.
An Israeli statement said that during Hassan Nasrallah’s 32-year reign as Hezbollah’s secretary general, he was responsible for the killing of numerous Israeli civilians and soldiers and for planning and carrying out thousands of terrorist acts. He was responsible for directing and carrying out terrorist attacks around the world, killing civilians of various nationalities. Nasrallah was the central decision maker and strategic leader of the organization.
