Israel says it struck Hezbollah HQ, warns of new attacks in Lebanon capital
The status of militant chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said to be the target of the Beirut strike that destroyed four buildings, is unclear
The Israeli military told residents in parts of Beirut’s southern suburbs to evacuate late on Friday, after strikes that it said had targeted Hezbollah’s central headquarters and with no word hours later from the group on the fate of their head Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
The order to evacuate, made by Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee via X, formerly Twitter, told residents to get at least 500 metres (550 yards) away from three specific buildings in the area. It was the first announcement of its kind for the densely populated neighbourhoods south of Beirut.
A source close to Hezbollah said Nasrallah was alive. Iran’s Tasnim news agency also reported he was safe. A senior Iranian security official said Tehran was checking his status. Hezbollah’s media office said that there was no truth to any statements surrounding the Israeli strikes, but did not say anything about the fate of the group’s leader.
In New York, a senior Israeli official told reporters that senior Hezbollah commanders were the target of Israel’s strike on the central headquarters on Friday but it was too early to say whether the attack took out Nasrallah.
Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters at the United Nations that the attack targeted a “meeting of bad people” planning more attacks on Israel.
“When I said this was a meeting of bad actors, Nasrallah is a bad actor. He’s a terrorist. He has the blood on his hands for many Americans, thousands of Israelis, so I think he should be punished for that. I cannot confirm now whether he was at that meeting or not, but when I speak about bad actors, he’s one of them,” Danon said.