Israel
said Saturday (September 28) that it killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah,
dealing its most significant blow to the Lebanese militant group after months
of fighting. There was no immediate confirmation from Hezbollah.
If
the claim is true, Nasrallah is by far the most powerful target to be killed by
Israel in weeks of intensified fighting with Hezbollah. The military said it
carried out a precise airstrike on Friday while Hezbollah leadership met at
their headquarters in Dahiyeh, south of Beirut.
Israel’s
Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said Saturday that the elimination of
Nasrallah was “not the end of our toolbox,” indicating that more strikes were
planned. He said that the strike targeting Hezbollah leadership was the result
of a long period of preparation.
The
Lebanese Health Ministry said six people were killed and 91 injured in the
strikes Friday, which leveled six apartment buildings. Ali Karki, the Commander
of Hezbollah’s Southern Front, and additional Hezbollah commanders, were also
killed in the attack, the Israeli military said.
The
Israeli military said it was mobilizing additional reserve soldiers as tensions
escalate with Lebanon, activating three battalions of reserve soldiers to serve
across the country. The call comes after it sent two brigades to northern
Israel earlier in the week to train for a possible ground invasion.
Lt.
Col. Nadav Shoshani, an army spokesman, said the airstrike was based on years
of tracking Nasrallah along with “real time intelligence” that made it viable.
He said Nasrallah’s death had been confirmed through various types of
intelligence, but declined to elaborate.
Shoshani
said that Israel has inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah’s capabilities over
the past week by targeting a combination of immediate threats and strategic
weapons, such as larger, guided missiles. But he said much of Hezbollah’s
arsenal still remains intact and that Israel would continue to target the
group.
“This
isn’t a threat that has gone away,” he said.
Shoshani
said it is “safe to assume” that Hezbollah will retaliate and that Israel is on
“high readiness.”
But
he said Israel hopes the blow to Hezbollah will change the course of the war.
“We
hope this will change Hezbollah’s actions,” he said. “We have been looking for
solutions, looking for a change in reality that will bring our civilians home,”
referring to the approximately 60,000 Israelis who have been evacuated from
their homes along the Lebanese border for almost a year. Earlier this month,
Israel’s government said halting Hezbollah’s attacks in the country’s north to
allow residents to return to their homes is an official war goal.
Shoshani
declined to say what munitions were used in the strike or provide an estimate
on civilian deaths in the strike, only saying that Israel takes measures to
avoid civilians whenever possible and clears strikes ahead of time with
intelligence and legal experts.
If
correct, Nasrallah’s death is a “historical moment,” said Orna Mizrahi, a
senior researcher at the Tel Aviv-based think tank Institute for National
Security Studies and former intelligence analyst for the Israeli military and
prime minister’s office. “This doesn’t mean that Hezbollah is destroyed,
because Hezbollah is made up tens of thousands of people,” she said.
Mizrahi
noted that Nasrallah was sometimes a “voice of reason,” interested in engaging
Israel in a war of attrition and holding the militant group back from using the
full force of their formidable arsenal against Israel. If Nasrallah has been
removed, that could prompt some less senior members of Hezbollah to unleash
much stronger weapons than have been used in the nearly yearlong exchange of
hostilities between Hezbollah and Lebanon, she said. The biggest question mark
right now, though, is how Iran will respond, said Mizrahi.
Mizrahi
added that Nasrallah’s reported death could provide a window of opportunity,
while the organization is significantly weakened, for Lebanon to dilute
Hezbollah’s far-reaching influence, especially in the south, that threatens to
drag Lebanon into a full-scale war with Israel.
On
Saturday morning, the Israeli military carried out several strikes in southern
Beirut and eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah launched dozens of
projectiles across northern and central Israel and deep into the
Israel-occupied West Bank.
In
Beirut’s southern suburbs, smoke rose and the streets were empty after the area
was pummeled overnight by heavy Israeli airstrikes. Shelters set up in the city
center for displaced people were overflowing. Many families slept in public
squares and beaches or in their cars. On the roads leading to the mountains
above the capital, hundreds of people could be seen making an exodus on foot,
holding infants and whatever belongings they could carry.
At
least 720 people have been killed in Lebanon over the past week from Israeli
airstrikes, according to the Health Ministry.