Israel Hezbollah war: The Israeli military stated on Friday, that it had targeted Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a ‘precise strike’
Nasrallah, has led the armed group for more than 30 years, presiding over its rise from a guerrilla organization to an armed non-state force in the Middle East. Here are the latest updates:
“The IAF (Israeli Air Force) struck and eliminated the terrorist Muhammad Ali Ismail, the commander of Hezbollah’s missile unit in southern Lebanon, and his deputy, the terrorist Hussein Ahmad Ismail,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in the early hours of Saturday, local time, stated reports. The IDF also claimed that “Additional Hezbollah commanders and operatives were eliminated alongside them,” reported CNN.
On Nasarullah’s fate, an Israeli official said it is ‘too early’ to speak. “If he is alive, you will know immediately. If not, it may take some time,” the official added.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he had ‘no prior information.’ According to Austin, the operation was underway even as he was on a call with his counterpart, Yoav Gallant.
According to a report by New York Times, US President Joe Biden is receiving latest updates on the developments in the Middle East.
The IDF has urged civilians in Beirut’s Dahiya neighbourhood, which houses Hezbollah’s headquarters, to leave areas being used by the group. It further claimed that Hezbollah has ‘150,000 rockets’ to kill Israeli civilians, and asserted it has ‘no conflict’ with the common people of Lebanon.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has called an emergency meeting at his residence, as per NYT.
The Iranian embassy in Beirut called Friday’s strike a ‘reprehensible crime and a 'reckless behaviour.’ This ‘dangerous escalation’ has changed ‘the rules of the game,’ the embassy warned.
Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the UN’s top official in Lebanon, wrote on social media ‘the city is still shaking with fear.’
Catch latest updates here.
