BEIRUT (AP) – The Israeli military said Friday that it had stormed Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut with a series of massive explosions targeting Hezbollah leaders. extremist group We leveled several high-rise apartment buildings.
At least six people were killed and 91 injured, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said. This is the biggest explosion to hit the Lebanese capital in the past year and is probably push forward with the escalating conflict Closer to full-scale war.
hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was the target of an airstrike, according to two people familiar with the matter, including one U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Israeli military declined to comment on who it was targeting. It was not immediately clear whether Nasrallah was at the scene, and Hezbollah did not comment on the report.
The death toll could rise significantly as teams scour the rubble of six buildings. After the first explosion, Israel launched a series of attacks on other areas of the southern suburbs.
After the airstrike, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly ended his visit to the United States and returned home. Hours earlier, he spoke at the United Nations: Israeli military operations vow to intensify The attacks against Hezbollah over the past two weeks will continue. faint hope for internationally supported ceasefire.
News of the explosion came as Prime Minister Netanyahu was briefing reporters. after his UN speech. A military aide overheard, and Prime Minister Netanyahu quickly ended the press conference.
Israeli military spokesman Maj. Gen. Daniel Hagari said the airstrike targeted Hezbollah’s stronghold, which is located in the basement of a residential building.
A series of explosions around dusk reduced six high-rise apartment blocks to rubble in the Shiite-majority Halet Lake district, a densely populated area on the outskirts of Beirut’s Dahiyeh, Lebanon’s state news agency reported. About 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of Beirut, walls of black and orange smoke rose into the sky as windows rattled and houses shook.
Footage showed rescue workers clambering over large concrete slabs surrounded by piles of twisted metal and debris. Several craters were visible, one of which the car had fallen into. Residents with belongings could be seen evacuating along the main road outside the area.
Israel had no immediate comment on the type or number of bombs used, but the resulting explosion destroyed an area larger than a city. The Israeli military has a 2,000-pound guided bomb made in the United States that is specifically designed to attack underground targets.
Richard Weir, a crisis and weapons researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the explosion was consistent with that class of bomb.
The Israeli Air Force carried out new airstrikes early Saturday, also in the southern suburbs, shortly after warning residents of three buildings to evacuate. It is said to have been used by Hezbollah to hide anti-ship missiles and other weapons.
The Israeli military announced additional attacks on Bekaa in eastern Lebanon and Tire in the south.
Israel spent a week pushing for elimination to an extent not seen in past conflicts. Hezbollah senior leadership. But an attempt to assassinate Nasrallah, whether successful or not, would be a major escalation. The Pentagon said the US had no advance warning of the attack.
Nasrallah has been in hiding for years, rarely appearing in public. He gives speeches regularly, always by video from an unknown location.
The site, which was damaged on Friday night, was not publicly known as Hezbollah’s headquarters but is located in the group’s “secure area”, a heavily guarded area of Haret Lake. There are offices in the area, and several hospitals are also operating nearby.
Four hours after the attack, Hezbollah has yet to issue a statement addressing this. Instead, it said it had fired a volley of rockets at the Israeli city of Safed “to protect Lebanon and the Lebanese people and to counter Israel’s barbaric violations of cities, villages and civilian populations.”
The Israeli military said Safed’s home and car were hit, and authorities said a 68-year-old woman suffered minor wounds from shrapnel.
israel dramatically increased airstrikes on Lebanon This week, it announced its determination to end Hezbollah’s shelling on its territory, which has continued for more than 11 months. The escalation of the campaign has left more than 720 people dead in Lebanon, including dozens of women and children, according to Health Ministry statistics. Nine members of the same family were killed in Friday’s pre-dawn attack in the Sunni-majority border town of Chebaa, the state news agency said.
The United Nations says the fighting has displaced 211,000 people, 85,000 of whom are currently staying in public schools and other evacuation centers. The airstrikes forced the closure of 20 primary health centers and cut off access to clean water to around 300,000 people.
The scope of Israel’s operations remains unclear, but officials said: ground invasion It has the potential to drive extremist groups from the border. Israel has moved thousands of troops toward the border in preparation.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed at the United Nations to “continue to undermine Hezbollah” until Israel achieves its goals. His comment is US-backed call for 21-day ceasefire This is to allow time for a diplomatic solution between Israel and Hezbollah. Hezbollah has not responded to this proposal.
Iran-backed Hezbollah, Lebanon’s strongest military, began firing rockets at Israel shortly after the October 7 Hamas attack, saying it was a show of support for the Palestinians. Since then, Israel and the Israeli military have engaged in near-daily firefights, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes on both sides of the border.
Israeli security officials said they do not expect the operation against Hezbollah to last as long as it is currently. war in gazabecause the military’s goals are much narrower.
In Gaza, Israel aims to dismantle Hamas’s military and political system, but Lebanon’s goal is to drive Hezbollah from its borders, a senior official said, and in terms of operational objectives, it is “not as high a hurdle as in Gaza.” Ta. Anonymous condition per military briefing guidelines.
In the southern Lebanese city of Tire, civil defense workers pulled the bodies of two women, 35-year-old Hiba Ataya and her mother Saba Oryan, from the rubble of a building destroyed in the strike.
“That’s Saba. These are her clothes, my love,” one man shouted as her body emerged.
Israel says the accelerated attacks have already caused significant damage to Hezbollah’s weapons capabilities and fighters. The Israeli military announced on Saturday that Tuesday’s airstrike in southern Lebanon killed Hezbollah missile force commander Muhammad Ali Ismail and his deputy. There was no immediate confirmation from Hezbollah.
But Hezbollah boasts a large arsenal of rockets and missiles, and its remaining capabilities are unknown.
Hezbollah leaders and their supporters remain defiant. On Friday evening, shortly before the explosion, thousands of people gathered at another location on the outskirts of Beirut to kill three Hezbollah members killed in an earlier airstrike, including Mohammed, the head of the group’s drone force.・Funerals were held for all (including Mr. Surur).
A large crowd of people raised their fists in the air and chanted “We will never accept humiliation” as they marched behind three coffins wrapped in the group’s yellow flag.
Hussein Fadlallah, Hezbollah’s top official in Beirut, said in a speech that no matter how many commanders Israel kills, the group still has countless experienced fighters. He vowed that Hezbollah would continue fighting until Israel stopped its attacks in Gaza.
“We will not abandon our support for Palestine, Jerusalem and the oppressed Gaza,” Fadlallah said. “There is no room for neutrality in this battle.”
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Associated Press reporter Tia Goldenberg at the United Nations. Abby Sewell of Beirut; Amel Madani of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware; and Zeina Karam in London contributed to this report.
