Massive Israeli strikes in Beirut target Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah: Sources

Israeli warplanes carried out a series of strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs Friday, Lebanese state media reported, triggering loud explosions that were heard in the capital.

“Enemy warplanes carried out a series of strikes on the area of Beirut’s southern suburbs,” the National News Agency said. Lebanese television showed plumes of smoke rising from several locations in the area.

Lebanon’s health ministry said two people were killed and 76 wounded in the densely populated area, adding it was a preliminary toll.

“The successive Israeli enemy strikes on Haret Hreik in Beirut’s southern suburbs, in a preliminary toll, killed two people and wounded 76, including... 15 that required hospitalization,” a ministry statement said.

The Israeli strikes on the Lebanese capital were meant to target Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, according to Al Arabiya sources. The Israeli military is checking whether he was hit or not, US news website Axios said, citing an Israeli source.

A source close to Hezbollah said that Hassan Nasrallah was “fine” after the strikes.

“Sayyed Nasrallah is fine,” the source said, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The Israeli military said it targeted Hezbollah’s central headquarters in the Dahieh suburb of southern Beirut.

In a televised statement, Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the central command center was embedded deep within civilian areas.

A source close to Hezbollah said the strikes flattened six buildings.

“The Israeli strikes levelled six buildings,” the source said, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media, after the Israeli military said it carried out “a precise strike” on the group’s central headquarters.

The Israeli military earlier said it was carrying out fresh strikes against Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon, minutes after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the UN that operations against the Lebanese armed group will continue.

Israel’s military “is currently striking terror targets belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in southern Lebanon,” the military said in a statement.

The strikes came soon after Netanyahu vowed to continue targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“We will continue degrading Hezbollah until all our objectives are met,” he told world leaders at the UN.

In a separate statement, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also vowed to defeat Israel’s “enemies near and far.”
Calls for a ceasefire

Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Israel’s attacks on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday show it “does not care” about efforts to bring about a ceasefire.

Mikati urged the international community to “stop” Israel from waging a “genocidal war” against Lebanon.

“This new Israeli aggression proves that the Israeli enemy doesn’t care about all the international efforts and calls for a ceasefire,” Mikati, said in a statement issued by his office, urging the international community to stop the “genocidal war that it (Israel) is waging on Lebanon.”

Mikati’s press office sent a statement while he was in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, where the US and other countries had made a call for a 21-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.