Israel Targets Hezbollah Leader In Massive Beirut Air Strike
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – The Israeli Air Force carried out massive targeted airstrikes in the Lebanese capital of Beirut as part of efforts to eliminate Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Israeli and U.S. sources say.
The late Friday attack struck Hezbollah’s main headquarters, and witnesses said the strike shook the Lebanese capital and sent thick clouds of smoke over the city.
There were reports of “many casualties” in the multiple strikes. Hezbollah said the Israeli strikes flattened six buildings in what was described as the “heaviest attack in Beirut” in almost a year of clashes between Hezbollah and Israel.
The fate of Nasrallah was not immediately clear, but at least one Lebanese security source said Hezbollah’s top officials are usually gathered at the site that was targeted.
Israeli officials said they suspect that Nasrallah was in the bunker targeted in the recent bombing, and anyone inside would struggle to survive such an attack.
Just hours before the strike, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu consulted with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, Worthy News learned.
ENORMOUS DESTRUCTION
A security source told the Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that “the extent of the destruction in Dahieh is enormous. Lebanon has reinforced all ambulances and dispatched them to the scene.”
It comes after Hezbollah fired a barrage of rockets into Israel that prompted counterattacks in which numerous senior Hezbollah figures, including its drone chief, were killed.
However, the assassination of Nasrallah would likely dramatically impact Hezbollah, which Iran has backed.
Earlier on Friday, Netanyahu made clear to Hezbollah that “Enough is enough,” making clear that attacks against the Lebanon-based group would continue until all citizens fleeing Hezbollah’s attacks on northern Israel could return.
Netanyahu made the remarks at the United Nations General Assembly, where
he said that “Israel yearns for peace” but that the Jewish nation must defend itself against “savage murderers.”
With smoke rising above parts of Beirut, it became clear that the clashes would continue.