(Reuters)
JERUSALEM/BEIRUT, Sept 28 – Israel said on Saturday it had killed Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburbs a day earlier in what would be a devastating blow to the group as it reels from an escalating campaign of Israeli attacks.
Reuters could not immediately reach Hezbollah officials for comment. The Iran-backed Hezbollah has yet to issue any statement on the status of Nasrallah, its leader for 32 years.
If confirmed, Nasrallah’s death would mark a major blow not only to Hezbollah but also to Iran. He has long been a towering figure in the Tehran-backed “Axis of Resistance”, helping to project Iranian influence across the Middle East.
The Israeli military said that Nasrallah was eliminated in a “targeted strike” on the group’s underground headquarters beneath a residential building in Dahiyeh – a Hezbollah-controlled southern suburb of Beirut.
It said he was killed along with another top Hezbollah leader, Ali Karaki, and other commanders.
“The strike was conducted while Hezbollah’s senior chain of command were operating from the headquarters and advancing terrorist activities against the citizens of the State of Israel,” it said.
Friday’s airstrike on Dahiyeh shook Beirut. A security source in Lebanon said the attack – a quick succession of massively powerful blasts – had left a crater at least 20 meters deep.
