A portrait of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah stands amid destruction in an area targeted by an Israeli nighttime airstrike in Saksakiyeh on September 26, 2024.
Mahmoud Zayat | AFP | Getty Images
The Israeli army on Saturday officially announced the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, a day after carrying out a military operation. Massive attack It’s Lebanon.
“Hassan Nasrallah is dead,” Israeli Army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said via social media platform X.
The Israel Defense Forces said Nasrallah, who led the Iran-backed militant group for more than three decades, was killed on Friday during what it called a “targeted strike” by fighter jets on Hezbollah’s headquarters in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
Among other Hezbollah commanders, Hezbollah Southern Front Commander Ali Kalki was also killed in the attack, the IDF said.
CNBC could not independently verify the report. Hezbollah has yet to issue a comment or statement.
Israel’s announcement marks a huge blow to Hezbollah after months of conflict. The Israel Defense Forces said Nasrallah was the organization’s “central decision-maker” and “strategic leader.”
Lebanese political analyst Roni Chata said on Saturday that if the news of Nasrallah’s death is confirmed, the country that was once able to wield power with absolute authority, grow into the world’s largest paramilitary force and become the world’s most sophisticated terror group The organization Hezbollah will be completely destroyed.
“I think the symbolism cannot be overstated. This is by far the most profound psychological blow to the organization since its inception. Hezbollah would not be what it is without Hassan Nasrallah,” he added.
What emerges in the coming months and years will be “something else,” Chatta said, an organization that will remain intact “albeit on a much smaller scale.”
—CNBC’s Emma Graham contributed to this report.
