The Israeli Protection Forces focused Hezbollah chief Hassan Hasrallah in a “exact strike” Friday on the central headquarters of Hezbollah in Beirut, Lebanon.
IDF spokesperson Rear admiral Daniel Hagari stated the headquarters have been deliberately constructed within the coronary heart of the Dahieh in Beirut below residential buildings “as a part of Hezbollah’s technique of utilizing Lebanese folks as human shields.”
Video and pictures present plumes of smoke rising over Beirut following the Israeli strikes. Witnesses say they heard a number of strikes. It’s unclear if Nasrallah was struck.
Smoke rises, after what Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television says was an Israeli strike, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanon, Sept. 27, 2024. (Reuters)
Hezbollah’s al-Manar tv reported that 4 buildings have been destroyed and there have been many casualties within the a number of strikes, which marked an escalation of Israel’s battle with the closely armed, Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Safety sources in Lebanon stated the assault focused an space the place high Hezbollah officers are often primarily based. It was the heaviest assault in Beirut in nearly a yr of battle between Hezbollah and Israel.
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“On Oct. 8, Hezbollah began attacking Israel after nearly a yr of Hezbollah firing rockets, missiles and suicide drones at Israeli civilians,” Hagari stated.
“After nearly a yr of Israel warning the world and telling them that Hezbollah should be stopped, Israel is doing what each sovereign state on the planet would do if that they had a terror group that seeks their destruction on their border, taking the required motion to guard our folks in order that Israeli households can go away their houses safely and securely.”
Fox Information has realized the goal of the assault was Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, pictured in a televised speech in January. (REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir)
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Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh says the U.S. was not concerned on this operation and had no advance warning.
“Minister [Yoav] Gallant spoke with Secretary Austin because the operation was already underway,” Singh stated. “This operation has occurred inside the previous few hours. We’re nonetheless assessing the occasion.”
The Pentagon additionally declined to take a position on whether or not the Hezbollah chief was nonetheless alive.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approving the strikes on Friday from a resort in New York. (Fox Information)
A White Home official says that President Biden has been briefed on the operation.
The strikes hit Beirut shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to proceed Israel’s assaults on Iranian-backed fighters in Lebanon in a carefully watched United Nations speech, as hopes pale for a cease-fire that would head off an all-out regional warfare.
A automobile sits in an enormous gap on the web site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburbs (The Related Press)
Netanyahu will lower quick his keep within the U.S. and can depart for Israel Friday, Fox Information sources say. That is understood to be a uncommon transfer by an Israeli prime minister, as Shabbat is a day of relaxation for Jews.
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The combating between Israel and Hezbollah has drastically escalated over the past month because the Israel Protection Forces (IDF) has begun focusing on the terrorist community’s scorching spots and navy storage models, all of that are strategically embedded inside civilian villages.
Reuters contributed to this report.