Israeli fighter jets bombarded the southern suburbs of Beirut overnight into Sept 28, sending panicked families fleeing massive strikes that were reportedly targeting Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. - Photo: AFP
ANKARA: The Israeli army on Saturday (Sept 28) claimed the "liquidation" of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a recent airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburb, Anadolu Agency reports.
In a statement on X (formerly known as Twitter), Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee says Nasrallah was "liquidated" during an operation targeting the central command of Hezbollah located beneath a residential building in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Adraee explained that the airstrike was conducted with "precise intelligence from the military's intelligence agency," targeting a location where Hezbollah's leadership was reportedly coordinating attacks against Israel.
He adds that the operation also resulted in the deaths of Ali Karki, the leader of Hezbollah's southern front, and several other Hezbollah commanders.
Hezbollah has yet to comment on the claims.
Israel has pounded Lebanon since early Monday (Sept 23) with strikes that have killed more than 700 people and injured nearly 2,200, according to figures released by the Lebanese Health Ministry.
The ministry also says the death toll in Lebanon since last October is 1,540, in addition to more than 77,000 displaced from the southern and eastern parts of the country.
Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel's onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 41,500 people, mostly women and children, since Oct 7 last year.
The international community has warned against the strikes on Lebanon, as they raise the spectre of turning the Gaza conflict into a regional war. – Bernama-Anadolu
