The Israeli military carried out a massive airstrike on Hezbollah’s central headquarters in Beirut on Friday evening. The target was reportedly the terror organization’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
It is unclear whether Nasrallah was hit in the strike or not, an Israeli source told Axios. Arab and Iranian sources who spoke with Sky News Arabia, Iran’s Tasnim news agency and Reuters suggested that he was alive.
“The Israel Defense Forces carried out a precise strike on the Central Headquarters of the Hezbollah terror organization – that served as the epicenter of Hezbollah’s terror,” the IDF’s spokesperson confirmed in a statement. “Hezbollah’s central headquarters was intentionally built under residential buildings in the heart of the Dahieh, in Beirut, as part of Hezbollah’s strategy of using Lebanese people as human shields.”
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Videos from the strike spiraling on social media, showed large plumes of smoke and dust over the Beirut suburb. Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV channel said four residential buildings had been destroyed. At least two people were killed and at least 76 others injured, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was at the UN headquarters in New York during the attack. His office published a photo of the premier authorized the attack. Just a short time beforehand, Netanyahu wrapped up his speech at the 79th General Assembly and held a briefing for Israeli media outlets. He reportedly had to leave abruptly as the events unfolded, before answering questions from reporters.
In light of the serious developments on the northern front of the war, the prime minister has decided to cut his short visit in the U.S. even shorter and depart to Israel Friday night. It is usually rare for Israeli leaders to travel during Shabbat.
Meanwhile, the U.S. said it had no advance knowledge of Israel’s plan to strike Hezbollah’s main headquarters.
“Minister [Yoav] Gallant spoke with Secretary Austin as the operation was already underway,” said Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh. “This operation has happened within the last few hours. We are still assessing the event.”
The Israeli strike took place, despite mounting international pressure for a ceasefire. The U.S., France and other G7 allies called for a 21-day pause in the fighting to provide space for diplomacy. The joint statement issued on Wednesday, didn’t even mention the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah once.
“Due to a lot of misreporting around the U.S.-led ceasefire initiative, it is important to clarify a few points,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement released Friday morning.
“Earlier this week, the United States shared with Israel its intention to put forward, together with other international and regional partners, a ceasefire proposal in Lebanon. Israel shares the aims of the U.S.-led initiative of enabling people along our northern border to return safely and securely to their homes. Israel appreciates the U.S. efforts in this regard because the U.S. role is indispensable in advancing stability and security in the region. Our teams met (Thursday, Sept. 26) to discuss the U.S. initiative and how we can advance the shared goal of returning people safely to their homes. We will continue those discussions in the coming days.”
Also on Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that the IDF was planning an additional sequence of operations against Hezbollah, including a possible ground incursion into Lebanon.
Hezbollah fired more than 9,000 missiles at Israel’s territory since Oct.8, causing over 60,000 civilians to evacuate their homes for an entire year.
This article originally appeared on ALL ISRAEL NEWS, and is reposted with permission.
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