Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has been killed following a huge wave of overnight Israeli airstrikes on Beirut, according to reports.
The Israeli airforce struck Hezbollah’s central headquarters on Friday, which the IDF said was located underground under a residential building in a southern suburb of Beirut.
Ali Karaki, the commander of Hezbollah’s southern front, is also believed to have been killed.
Israel unleashed a barrage of airstrikes on Beirut in a huge attack that targeted Hezbollah’s central headquarters.
The Lebanese health ministry reports at least six dead and 91 wounded in the attacks. The strikes rocked the Lebanese capital, sending smoke billowing skyward.
A second wave of strikes followed, hitting what Israel says were Hezbollah weapons facilities and command centres in southern Beirut.
Israel had earlier claimed that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was the intended target.
Israel also struck targets in the Bekaa valley and the mountain town of Bhamdoun.
The Israeli military claims to have killed Hezbollah’s missile unit commander, Muhammad Ali Ismail, and his deputy.
This marks the most intense Israeli attack on Beirut since the conflict with Hezbollah began after Hamas’ 7 October attack on Israel.
Israel says it carried out a “precise strike” on Hezbollah’s headquarters, which it claims was “embedded under residential buildings” in Beirut’s Dahieh area.
Dahieh, controlled by Hezbollah, has been hit four times in the past week, displacing an estimated 100,000 people.
Iran’s embassy in Beirut called the strikes a “dangerous, game-changing escalation” and a “crime” deserving “appropriate punishment”.
