Tel Aviv: The Israeli military on Saturday claimed that it killed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Hezbollah militant group, in a strike in Beirut on Friday. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah.
Nasrallah, who has led Hezbollah for more than three decades, was reportedly killed in massive airstrikes that flattened six residential buildings in Dahieh, south of Beirut, killing at least six people including children. The death toll is likely to rise significantly as teams comb through the rubble of the six buildings. It was the biggest blast to hit the Lebanese capital in the past year.
The Israeli military claimed that it was a precise airstrike on the Hezbollah headquarters. Israel also launched a series of strikes on other areas of the southern suburbs following the initial blast.
Ali Karki, the Commander of Hezbollah’s Southern Front, and additional Hezobollah commanders were killed in the airstrike, the Isrtaeli military said.
At least 720 people, including children have been killed in Lebanon as Israel intensified its bombing in the territory since Monday.
According to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency, 11 doctors, nurses and paramedics were killed and 10 others were wounded in Israeli army attacks on civil defence centres and a medical clinic in Lebanon.
The Israeli military said it was mobilizing additional reserve soldiers as tensions escalate with Lebanon. The military said Saturday morning it was activating three battalions of reserve soldiers, after earlier sending two brigades to northern Israel earlier in the week to train for a possible ground invasion.
