Nasrallah death: Netanyahu says he personally authorised operation to kill Hezbollah chief; warns Iran, Sinwar

In his first public statement since the killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had "settled the account" with a "mass murderer".

"We settled the score with the one responsible for the murder of countless Israelis and many citizens of other countries, including hundreds of Americans and dozens of French,"

Netanyahu revealed that he had personallyissued the directive to neutralise Nasrallah as Hezbollah would have regenerated if he was allowed to live.

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"He would have quickly rehabilitated Hezbollah’s capabilities.So I gave the order and Nasrallah is no longer with us," said Netanyahu.

In the weeks leading up to the attack, Israel had increased its intensity of strikes in Lebanon where Hezbollah operated from at the behest of Iran. Reports state that the Israeli security establishment had been tracking Nasrallah for months and recommended targeting him this week or the opportunity could pass.

“Nasrallah wasn’t just another terrorist. He was the terrorist. Eliminating Nasrallah was an essential condition for achieving the goals that we have set out — returning the residents of the north safely to their homes and changing the balance of power in the region for years,”he said.

Meanwhile, Lebanon's government has declared three days of mourning for the death of Nasrallah, starting Monday.

Watch |Israel drops 85 tonnes of GBU-31 JDAMs & Spice 2000 bombs to kill Hassan Nasrallah

Netanyahu warns Iran, Sinwar

The Israeli PM also appeared to issue a direct challenge to Tehran, which suppliesfunds, weapons to Hezbollah, and said,“Those who strike at us, we will strike at them. There is nowhere in Iran or the Middle East beyond the reach of the long arm of Israel, and today you know how true that is.”

Netanyahu also shot off a warning to Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar who appears to be the last big name remaining in the Gaza Strip after his predecessors were neutralised in the previous few months by Tel Aviv.

"The more [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar sees that Hezbollah is no longer coming to save him, the greater the chances for the return of our hostages," Netanyahu said, referring to the ongoing efforts to secure the release of Israelis captured by Hamas during its October 7 attack.

There have been reports of Israel being close to neutralising Sinwar on multiple occasions in the last few weeks. If Tel Aviv manages to eliminate Sinwar in the upcoming days, it could perhaps be the biggest military coup pulled off in the region where both Hamas and Hezbollah were going toe-to-toe with IDF just a few weeks ago.

(With inputs from agencies)