The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declared on Saturday that the major bombing in Beirut, Lebanon, claimed the life of Hassan Nasrallah, the elusive leader of Hezbollah, a terror organization in Lebanon. According to the Israeli military, as the Hezbollah leadership was meeting at their headquarters in Dahiyeh, south of Beirut, Air Force jets executed a pinpoint airstrike.
The IDF tweeted, “Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorize the world.” A spokesman for Hezbollah, meanwhile, had earlier claimed that Nasrallah, who became the organization’s leader in 1992 at the age of just 32, was unscathed.
This comes after several enemies of Israel have been killed in recent months. Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’s political wing, and Fuad Shukr, the head of Hezbollah, were removed in July.
According to the Israeli military, Friday’s strike reportedly killed several commanders, including Ali Karki, the head of Hezbollah’s Southern Front. Zainab Nasrallah, Nasrallah’s daughter, too perished in the shelling that destroyed numerous structures and drove hundreds of Lebanese people from their homes.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi declared that Israel would hunt down anyone posing a threat to the nation and its inhabitants upon learning of Nasrallah’s passing. “The toolbox is not over yet. For those who pose a threat to Israeli civilians, the message is clear. We’ll be aware of how to reach them,” he remarked.
More than 80 bombs were reportedly dropped on Hezbollah’s headquarters, according to Israeli media. An average bomb held one tonne of explosive material.
Six persons were confirmed dead and ninety-one injured in Friday’s airstrikes, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. The death toll is anticipated to climb, though.
WHO WAS HASSAN NASRALLAH?
Nasrallah has not been seen in public for years due to concerns that Israel would assassinate him. Nasrallah commanded Hezbollah for more than thirty years with strong support from Iran.
Under the leadership of Nasrallah, the son of a vegetable vendor, Hezbollah developed from a militia established to oppose Israeli troops occupying Lebanon into a force capable of challenging the Lebanese army. Born in 1960, he was the oldest of nine children in the eastern Beirut neighborhood of Bourj Hammoud.
In 1975, Nasrallah became a member of the Amal movement, a Shia militia. After seven years, he and other members of the group broke away and founded another group called Islamic Amal. The action was taken soon after Israel invaded Lebanon in response to militant attacks by Palestinians in 1982.
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