Israel claims Hezbollah leader Nasrallah killed in Beirut strike

Originally Published: 28 SEP 24 04:10 ET
Updated: 28 SEP 24 04:38 ET
By Mick Krever, CNN

Tel Aviv (CNN) — The Israeli military claims that Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in Friday’s airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon.

Hezbollah has not yet commented.

Israeli fighter jets targeted the headquarters of the militant group, located in an area of the capital’s southern suburbs known as Dahiyeh, the Israeli military said in a statement on Saturday.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed that Nasrallah had been operating from the headquarters and “advancing terrorist activities against the citizens of the State of Israel.”

Nasrallah turned Hezbollah into the most robustly armed non-state group in the region – commanding a dedicated following across Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen. It is the most dominant political force in crisis-ridden Lebanon. Much of the Western world has designated Hezbollah a terrorist organization.

Israeli forces renewed attacks in the densely populated Dahiyeh neighborhood overnight, according to Lebanon’s state news agency. Israeli strikes razed buildings to rubble, and killed at least six people, according to the country’s health ministry.

A CNN team on the ground reported large flashes and thuds of impacting Israeli missiles are echoing across the capital.

The IDF said it was targeting what it alleges are buildings used by Hezbollah as command centers, weapons productions and storage sites. Hezbollah has denied that its weapons are being stored in civilian buildings targeted by Israeli strikes.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.