‘Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to...’: Israeli army announces killing of Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief

The Israeli military on September 28 announced that they had killed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Hezbollah militant group, in a strike in Beirut. “Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorise the world,” the Israeli military said in a post on X (formally twitter). 

According to the Israeli claim, the airstrike carried out on September 27 was precise and targeted Hezbollah’s leadership meeting at their headquarters in Dahiyeh, south of Beirut. Nasrallah had led Hezbollah for over 30 years. 

A Israeli military spokesperson on Saturday said that Hezbollah leader Nasrallah terrorised Israel for decades and termed him as one of the world’s most influential terrorists. 

“Under his (Nasrallah’s leadership, Lebanon became an armed base,” the spokesperson adding that Nasrallah was with other senior commanders & the strike was conducted while the senior chain of command was operating against Israel. 

The spokesperson further said that Hezbollah had plans to infiltrate Israeli communities, and murder and kidnap Israeli citizens. 

According to an AFP report, a source close to the Hezbollah group said that contact had been lost with chief Hassan Nasrallah since last evening, after Israel said it had “eliminated” him in a strike on the group’s southern Beirut bastion. The source, however, did not confirm whether Nasrallah had been killed. 

Israel maintained a heavy barrage of attacks on Hezbollah targets by fighter jets into the early hours today after it told residents to evacuate three buildings it was targeting.  

On Saturday, Israel launched a new wave of airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs and other areas of Lebanon. This came just a day after a major attack on the southern suburbs known as Dahiyeh. 

The Israeli military said it was mobilising additional reserve soldiers as tensions escalated with Lebanon. The Lebanon-based Hezbollah also launched dozens of rockets toward Israel. 

After the strikes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly cut short his visit to the United States to return to Israel. Hours before the strikes, Netanyahu addressed the United Nations, vowing that Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah would continue dimming hopes for an internationally backed cease-fire anytime soon.