Hezbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah Killed in Airstrike, Israeli Military Claims
The Israeli military announced that an airstrike on Friday in Beirut, Lebanon killed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah. However, Hezbollah has not yet confirmed Nasrallah’s death.
The airstrike targeted Hezbollah’s headquarters in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that Nasrallah was operating from the headquarters and planning terrorist attacks against Israel.
Under Nasrallah’s leadership, Hezbollah became the most powerfully armed non-state group in the region. It has a dedicated following across Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, and is the dominant political force in Lebanon. Many Western countries consider Hezbollah a terrorist organization.
Israeli forces launched renewed attacks on the densely populated Dahiyeh neighborhood overnight. According to Lebanon’s state news agency, the strikes destroyed buildings and killed at least six people.
A CNN team in Beirut reported seeing large flashes and hearing the loud thuds of Israeli missiles hitting the capital. The IDF claims it targeted buildings used by Hezbollah as command centers and weapons storage sites. Hezbollah denies that it stores weapons in civilian buildings targeted by Israel.
Hassan Nasrallah’s Early Life and Rise to Power
Hassan Nasrallah was born in August 1960 to a grocer and his wife in Beirut, Lebanon. His early childhood was marked by the outbreak of Lebanon’s civil war in 1975, forcing his family to flee the capital. They moved south to a village near the coastal city of Tyre.
A year later, the young Nasrallah traveled to Iraq to study at a Shiite seminary. However, he was quickly expelled due to the persecution of Shiite Muslims under Saddam Hussein’s regime. Nasrallah returned to Lebanon, where he continued his studies under the guidance of his teacher, Musawi.
In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon, and Nasrallah rallied a group of fighters to resist the occupation. This group would eventually evolve into the powerful militant organization known as Hezbollah. The Israeli invasion resulted in the occupation of nearly half of Lebanon’s territory and the deaths of at least 17,000 people, according to reports and an Israeli investigation into a massacre at a Beirut refugee camp.