West Asia crisis: Hezbollah confirms leader Hassan Nasrallah's death in IDF strikes on Beirut

Tel Aviv

Hezbollah on Saturday (Sep 28) confirmed that its chief Hassan Nasrallah was eliminated during the military's strikes in Beirut on Friday. The militant group pledged to continue its fight against Israel and the defence of Lebanon. Nasrallah was reportedly at Hezbollah’s main underground headquarters in the Dahiyeh suburb of Beirut when the IDF carried out its massive strikes.

"Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary General of Hezbollah, has joined his great, immortal martyr comrades whom he led for about 30 years," the Lebanon-based militant group said in a statement.

Earlier, the Israeli military had made similar claims. In a post on X, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said, "Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorise the world."

Speaking to the news agency AFP, military spokesperson Captain David Avraham also confirmed that Nasrallah was killed following strikes Friday on the Lebanese capital.

The strike that killed Nasrallah

In a statement, the IDF said that following precise intelligence from the military and Israel's security establishment, air force jets conducted a targeted strike on the Central Headquarters of Hezbollah, which was located underground embedded under a residential building in the area of Dahieh in Beirut.

Also read | Israel says Hezbollah leader Nasrallah killed in Beirut strike. Who was he?

"The strike was conducted while Hezbollah’s senior chain of command was operating from the headquarters and advancing terrorist activities against the citizens of the State of Israel," the statement said.

"During Hassan Nastallah’s 32-year reign as the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, he was responsible for the murder of many Israeli civilians and soldiers, and the planning and execution of thousands of terrorist activities," the IDF said.

"The Hezbollah terrorist organization, headed by Hassan Nasrallah, joined the Hamas terrorist organization in its war against the State of Israel on October 8th. Since then, Hezbollah has been continuing its ongoing and unprovoked attacks on the citizens of the State of Israel, dragging the State of Lebanon and the entire region into a wider escalation," it added.

The IDF also warned that it would continue operating against anyone who promotes and engages in terrorism against Israel.

'Lost contact with Nasrallah since Friday evening'

Speaking to AFP, a source close to Hezbollah said on Saturday that contact had been lost since last evening with Nasrallah.

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"Contact with Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has been lost since Friday evening," said the source, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters told AFP. However, he did not confirm whether Nasrallah had been killed.

Meanwhile, Israel launched a new wave of airstrikes (against Hezbollah) on Beirut's southern suburbs and other areas of Lebanon on Saturday. Hezbollah responded by launching a rocket attack in northern Israel.

Israel then claimed to have struck dozens of Hezbollah targets in eastern Lebanon. 

(With inputs from agencies)

Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report conflicts in West Asia involving Israel, Iran, Syria, Iraq and non-state actors like Islamic State, among others. In this context, claims and counterclaims are being made online and offline. WION cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, social media posts, photos and videos.