Hezbollah confirms leader Nasrallah killed, vows to continue the battle against Israel

BEIRUT: The Israeli military said on Saturday (Sep 28) it had killed Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in an air strike on the group's central headquarters in the southern suburbs of Beirut a day earlier.

Hezbollah later confirmed that Nasrallah, who had led the group for 32 years, had been killed and vowed to continue the battle against Israel "in support of Gaza and Palestine, and in defence of Lebanon and its steadfast and honourable people".

Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV started airing Quran verses after the announcement of Nasrallah's death. 

The Israeli military "eliminated ... Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Hezbollah terrorist organization", Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote in a statement on X.

"Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorize the world," the Israeli military said in a post on X on Saturday.

The statement added the air strikes also killed Ali Karake, who is commander of Hezbollah's southern front, and an unspecified number of other Hezbollah commanders.

"During Hassan Nasrallah's 32-year reign as the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, he was responsible for the murder of many Israeli civilians and soldiers, and the planning and execution of thousands of terrorist activities," Israel's military said.

"He was responsible for directing and executing terrorist attacks around the world in which civilians of various nationalities were murdered. Nasrallah was the central decision-maker and the strategic leader of the organisation."

ISRAEL ON HIGH ALERT FOR HEZBOLLAH RESPONSE 

Israel is on high alert for a broader conflict after the elimination of Nasrallah, but hopes his death will cause the Iran-backed group to change course, a military spokesperson said on Saturday.

"We hope this will change Hezbollah's actions," Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said in a media briefing after the military confirmed it had killed Nasrallah.

But he said there was still a ways to go in degrading Hezbollah's capabilities.

"We've seen Hezbollah carry out attacks against us for a year. It's safe to assume that they are going to continue carrying out their attacks against us or try to," he said. 

Hezbollah said on Saturday that it had targeted Israeli sites including Rosh Pina in the north with missiles in response to Israeli attacks on Lebanese cities, villages and civilians.

Israel also launched a new wave of air strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs and other areas of Lebanon on Saturday, a day after carrying out the massive attack on the southern suburbs of Beirut known as Dahiyeh.

Hezbollah began firing into Israel one day after Hamas' Oct 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.

Israel has in recent days shifted the focus of its operation from Gaza to Lebanon, where heavy bombing has killed more than 700 people and displaced around 118,000.