An Israeli attack on a high-rise building in the Haret Hreik district of Berijah: The death of Hezbollah’s headquarters

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei condemned what he called an Israeli massacre in Lebanon, and vowed that the fate of the Mideast will be determined by “the forces of resistance, with Hezbollah at the forefront.” Iran announced five days of mourning.

The scope of Israel’s operation remains unclear, but officials have said a ground invasion to push the militant group away from the border is a possibility. Thousands of troops were moved toward the border.

The United Nations said the fighting has displaced 211,000 people, including 85,000 now staying in public schools and other shelters. More than 300,000 people lack access to clean water due to the strike on 20 primary health care centers.

BEIRUT — The Israeli military said it struck Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut on Friday in a series of massive explosions that targeted the leader of the militant group and leveled multiple high-rise apartment buildings.

The site hit Friday evening had not been publicly known as Hezbollah’s main headquarters, though it is located in the group’s “security quarters,” a heavily guarded part of Haret Hreik where it has offices and runs several nearby hospitals.

Israel said on Saturday that it had killed Hezbollah leader Nasrallah in a series of airstrikes outside of Lebanon. The Iranian-backed militia later confirmed Nasrallah’s death.

The type of bomb and how many used was unknown by Israel, but the explosion leveled an area larger than a city block. The Israeli army has two types of guided bombs, theBunkerbusters, which are specifically designed for hitting subterranean targets.

The footage showed rescue workers climbing over large slabs of concrete surrounded by twisted metal and rubble. Several craters were visible, one with a car toppled into it. A group of people are fleeing along a main road out of the district.

According to the Lebanon national news agency, six apartment towers were reduced to rubble because of a series of blasts. An orange and black smoke billowed into the sky as windows were thrown open and houses shook north of Lebanon.

News of the blasts came as Netanyahu was briefing reporters after his U.N. address. A military aide whispered into his ear, and Netanyahu quickly ended the briefing.

The Killing of the Hezbollah Demonstration Brigade in Lebanon after the July 23rd Israeli Military Blast

The death toll is likely to rise significantly as teams comb through the rubble of six buildings. After the blast in the southern suburb, Israel launched a number of strikes on other areas.

The Lebanese health ministry announced late Friday that six people had died and more than 90 had been injured by the strikes, but authorities said they were still clearing vast quantities of rubble, meaning those numbers would likely rise.

The Hezbollah official said in a speech that the group has endless numbers of experience fighters even if Israel kills a lot of commanders. He vowed that Hezbollah will keep fighting until Israel stops its offensive in Gaza.

People in the giant crowd waved their fists in the air and chanted, “We will never accept humiliation,” as they marched marched behind the three coffins, wrapped in the group’s yellow flag.

Hezbollah officials and their supporters remain defiant. Not long before the explosions Friday evening, thousands gathered in another part of Beirut’s suburbs for the funeral of three Hezbollah members killed in earlier strikes, including the head of the group’s drone unit, Mohammed Surour.

Civil defense workers saved the life of a mother and daughter from the rubble of a building that was destroyed by a strike.

The goal in Lebanon is not to push Hezbollah away from the border, but to dismantle the Hamas military and political regime, said the official who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to military guidelines.

In a post on the social media platform X, the Israeli military wrote that Nasrallah would “no longer be able to terrorize the world,” prompting loud music to ring out across Tel Aviv in celebration of his death.

After 32 years atop the group, Nasrallah rarely made public appearances and was often labeled a terrorist organization by several nations.

Hezbollah and the Axis of Resistance: How it will end in a crisis for Lebanon, the Palestinians and the Israelis

Israel’s top military commander, Chief of the General Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, issued a video statement Saturday, in which he said the unprecedented strikes Friday that had targeted Hezbollah’s leadership was “not the end” for what he termed Israel’s “toolbox.’

Amer Al Sabaileh, a Jordanian security expert and close observer of Hezbollah, said the fact Nasrallah was willing to take the high risk to his life of gathering with other Hezbollah commanders amid Israel’s campaign indicates the group was in crisis after two weeks of crippling Israeli attacks.

“The level of shock among Hezbollah cannot be measured,” Al Sabaileh said. They did not anticipate that Israel would initiate and continue their attacks on Hezbollah.

Chatham House’s Sanam Vakil is the director of the Middle East and North Africa program.

Vakil wrote in a long series of online posts about the killing and how it will impact on the so-calledaxis of resistance, which includes Hezbollah, Hamas and other militant groups. “The axis has not proven effective at providing Iran deterrence against Israel, or a Gaza cease-fire.”

Orna Mizrahi of the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv believes that Israel can help reach a long-term agreement with Hezbollah that would force it back from Lebanon’s border with northern Israel.

Hezbollah’s succession plans and the process by which Nasrallah may be replaced are opaque, but should follow a blueprint that saw his own elevation more than 30 years ago, according to Nick Blanford, a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs and long-time expert of Hezbollah based in Beirut.

Hezbollah is going to get a huge blow but it should be the same thing that happened in 92. The Shura Council sits and decides who toelect.

Lammy said they agreed on the need for a ceasefire to end the bloodshed. The only way to restore security and stability is with a diplomatic solution.

Russia’s foreign ministry issued a statement condemning the killing of Nasrallah, saying it “is fraught with even greater dramatic consequences for Lebanon and the entire Middle East.” Israel should stop the war with Lebanon, said Moscow.

The Iraqi state television announced a three-day period of mourning. On the station’s official website, it said: “This heinous crime will enhance the spirit of resistance in people’s hearts and enhance the will of victory in facing the mean Zionist entity.”

In Syria where Hezbollah supports Assad, people celebrate on the streets according to Syrian journalist Fared Al MAhool. People like to hear it. … Nasrallah supports the Syrian regime so many people have been killed and lost loved ones. They destroyed many cities and displaced a lot of people.

Tens of thousands of people have left the country due to Israeli strikes in the past week. And many have also been pouring over the border to neighboring Syria, Syrian journalist Danny Makki told NPR, speaking from the capital Damascus.

Over the past few days, thousands of reserve personnel have been dispatched to the border with Lebanon to guard against rocket fire from Hezbollah.

Hezbollah confirmed that its leader of 32 years was killed in Lebanon by an Israeli airstrike, and offered condolences for others killed with him, after what the group called a “treacherous Zionist raid on the southern suburb” of Beirut.

Despite his death, Nasrallah will remain a leader among us with his thought, spirit, line and sacred approach.

President Biden said in a statement that Hezbollah was responsible for the killing of hundreds of Americans over the course of four decades.

The Iranian news agency Mehr reported that an operational head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps may be able to ignite an even wider Middle East conflict because of the attack. Gen. Abbas Nilforoushan, had also been killed in the strike. Iran has supported and provided weapons and technology to Hezbollah.

The attack on Hezbollah’s headquarters took place just after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the U.N. General Assembly. An Israeli official, speaking in line with protocol, said Netanyahu greenlit the strike before he gave his address.

Netanyahu said that assassination of Nasrallah was an essential condition for Israel to achieve its goals.

The Israeli military imposed restriction on public gatherings in central Israel in order to prepare for possible Hezbollah strikes.

“Weaker Front” of Israel: the Sept. 27 and 18 Attacks of the Middle East by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

“Nasrallah, the next day, made the fateful decision to join hands with Hamas and open what he called a ‘northern front’ against Israel,” Biden said in a statement.

Biden said the operation took out Nasrallah happened in the larger context of Oct. 7. Hamas is against Israel.

Despite cross-border exchanges of fire, the Information Minister of Lebanon stated that negotiations for a ceasefire with Israel were still under way.

Israel’s killing of Nasrallah, in particular, represents another dramatic new development for a conflict that has metastasized across the Middle East region since last October.

The latest exchanges of fire, combined with Israel’s preparations to invade southern Lebanon has mounted fears that the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah was heading toward an all-out war.

Meanwhile, the IDF also said it had intercepted eight projectiles launched from Lebanon into Israel on Sunday, hitting open areas near Tiberias in Israel’s north.

The Israel Defense Force stated on Telegram that their air forces targeted military structures that were stored.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to Israel earlier than expected from his trip to the United Nations as Israel was said to be preparing for an invasion into southern Lebanon after reservists were called up to Israel’s north.

Haifa and the nearby towns are surrounded by sirens. Haifa was the first city targeted by Israel in the war.

Sept. 27: In a fiery speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Netanyahu says Israel is “winning” on multiple fronts and would attack Iran and its proxies anywhere in the Middle East. Many delegates leave the U.N. hall during his address, which he calls a “swamp of antisemitic bile.”

Sept. 18: A fresh wave of explosions of communications devices, including walkie-talkies, strikes Lebanon, killing 14 and wounding some 450, according to Lebanese health officials. Yoav Gallant, the Israeli Defense Minister speaks about “impressive results,” but does not mention the device attacks that took place the previous two days.