The Israeli military told residents in parts of Beirut’s southern suburbs to evacuate last night, after strikes that it said had targeted Hizbollah’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 spokesperson Avichay Adraee via X, told residents to get at least 500 metres 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 Hizbollah told Reuters Nasrallah was alive. Iran’s Tasnim news agency also reported he was safe. A senior Iranian security official told Reuters Tehran was checking his status. Hizbollah’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 Hizbollah commanders were the target of Israel’s strike on the central headquarters yesterday but it was too early to say whether the attack took out Nasrallah.
Lebanon’s health ministry said there were two dead and 76 wounded from the Israeli strikes, describing it as a preliminary toll.
Iran-backed Hizbollah’s Al Manar television reported four buildings were destroyed and there were many casualties in the multiple strikes, which marked a major escalation of Israel’s conflict with the heavily armed Hizbollah.
Al Manar’s live feed showed search and rescue teams scrambling over concrete and protruding metal, with a correspondent for the TV station saying the attack had left several large craters and damaged many surrounding buildings.
The Israeli military said it had carried out a “precise strike” on Hizbollah’s headquarters, which it said were “embedded under residential buildings in the heart of the Dahiyeh in Beirut”.
Israel has struck the Hizbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut, known as Dahiyeh, four times over the last week, killing at least three senior Hizbollah military commanders.
Yesterday’s attack was far more powerful, with multiple blasts shaking windows across the city, recalling Israeli air strikes during a war with Hizbollah in 2006.
In a televised statement, Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the central command centre was embedded deep within civilian areas.
The strikes hit Beirut shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue Israel’s attacks on Iranian-backed fighters in Lebanon in a UN speech, as hopes faded for a ceasefire to head off all-out regional war.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the attack showed Israel did not care about global calls for a Lebanon ceasefire.
Iran’s embassy in Lebanon said on X that the strike represented a dangerous game-changing escalation that would “bring its perpetrator an appropriate punishment.”
The escalation raised concern at the United Nations, where the annual General Assembly has been meeting this week. Among those voicing concern was France, which earlier in the week proposed a 21-day ceasefire to reduce tensions.
“The large-scale strikes which took place today in the south suburb of Beirut, brought devastation and claimed many casualties. This must be brought to an end immediately,” French Ambassador Nicolas de Riviere told a Security Council meeting.
At a New York Press conference, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “We believe the way forward is through diplomacy, not conflict. The path to diplomacy may seem difficult to see at this moment, but it is there, and in our judgment, it is necessary, and we will continue to work intentionally with all parties to urge them to choose that course.”
l A blast was heard in Beirut just after midnight, a Reuters witness reported, as the Israeli military said it was striking weapons belonging to Hizbollah in the southern suburbs of the city.