Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was killed in the IDF’s strike on Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut on Friday, the IDF announced Saturday morning.
Almost 32 years after co-founding the Lebanese terrorist organization, Nasrallah was killed, alongside Ali Karaki, Hezbollah‘s commander of the southern front, and other Hezbollah commanders.
Israel’s air force struck Hezbollah’s central headquarters using precise intelligence from the intelligence wing and defense system. The headquarters were based underground, under a residential building in the Lebanese capital.
The strike, which was carried out by IAF aircraft, targeted Hezbollah’s central headquarters in Dahieh, Beirut, as The Jerusalem Post reported on Friday.
“This is not the end of our toolbox,” IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi said in a statement following the announcement of Nasrallah’s death.
“Those who threaten the citizens of the State of Israel – we will know how to reach them – in the North, in the South, and even in more distant places,” Halevi said.
“After a long period of preparing many capabilities for Lebanon, we have begun implementing them. This strike had also been prepared for a long time and executed at the right time, precisely,” he continued.
“We are now moving forward with sharp preparation for the next steps. Ultimately, I emphasize again that we are maintaining maximum readiness across all of our sectors. All forces, including coordination with other organizations, must be well-coordinated and highly prepared,” Halevi concluded.
Nasrallah and top commanders were coordinating attacks
The underground command center was embedded beneath a residential building, the IDF noted in its report on Saturday, where Nasrallah and his top commanders were coordinating terrorist activities against Israel at the time of the attack.
During Nasrallah’s 32-year leadership of Hezbollah, he was responsible for planning and executing multiple terrorist operations, including attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers, as well as international attacks that killed other nationals worldwide.
Under his command, Hezbollah joined Hamas in its conflict with Israel on October 8, 2023, further escalating violence in the region.
Nasrallah’s daughter Zainab was reportedly killed in the same Israeli airstrike targeting Hezbollah strongholds in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday.
Who were Hassan Nasrallah and Ali Karaki
Hassan Nasrallah began his political journey in 1976 at the age of 16 when he traveled to Iraq and joined the Shia Islamic movement, the Dawa Party. In 1982, he co-founded Hezbollah with Iranian support after leaving the Amal Movement, quickly securing a senior position and overseeing the Bekaa area by age 22.
By 1985, he was Deputy Chairman of the Beirut Council and became the military leader in the city. In 1987, he was appointed Head of the Operational Executive Council and became a member of Hezbollah’s Supreme Council. Following the assassination of Abbas Musawi, Nasrallah assumed leadership of Hezbollah in 1992.
Over his 32-year tenure, he was responsible for orchestrating numerous terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers, making strategic decisions that solidified Hezbollah’s role as a significant terrorist organization.
Ali Karki has commanded Hezbollah’s Southern Front since 2007, overseeing the group’s military activities in southern Lebanon. He was responsible for building extensive weapon stockpiles and deploying thousands of operatives along the Israeli border.
Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas War, Karki has directed rocket launches, anti-tank missile attacks, and UAV strikes, resulting in significant damage among Israeli civilians and soldiers, and causing extensive damage in northern Israel.
Karki’s strategy involved embedding Hezbollah within civilian areas, utilizing homes and the local population as human shields in their assaults on Israel. A founding member of Hezbollah’s military operations in the 1980s, he has a history of orchestrating numerous terror attacks against Israelis.
His aggression against Israel include a 1997 terrorist attack, leadership during operations in southern Lebanon during Operation Defensive Shield in 2002, and commanding Hezbollah forces in the 2006 Lebanon War.
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