Israel kills Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in targeted strike

Smoke rose from Beirut’s southern suburbs on Saturday after the area was pummelled by heavy airstrikes that Israel said killed multiple Hezbollah commanders, including leader Hassan Nasrallah.

The Lebanese militant group confirmed the death of its longtime leader, whose killing could dramatically reshape conflicts across the Middle East.

Attacks on Hezbollah targets by fighter jets continued on Saturday after the army said it told residents to evacuate three buildings it was targeting, as Israel braced for Hezbollah’s response.

Hours before the strikes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations, vowing that Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah would continue — further dimming hopes for an internationally backed cease-fire. Netanyahu abruptly cut his United States visit short and returned to Israel.

More than 1,000 people have been killed in Lebanon since the conflict escalated less than two weeks ago, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

The United Nations says the number of those displaced by the conflict from southern Lebanon has more than doubled and now stands at more than 211,000. At least 20 primary healthcare centres have shut down in hard-hit areas of Lebanon, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

Hezbollah began firing rockets into northern Israel in support of Hamas after it stormed into Israel on October 7, sparking the Israel-Hamas war. Top Israeli officials have threatened to repeat the destruction of Gaza in Lebanon if the Hezbollah fire continues, raising fears of further displacement.

Here’s the latest:

Sirens sound at Tel Aviv airport soon after Netanyahu lands

TEL AVIV, Israel — Air raid sirens sounded across central Israel, including at the Tel Aviv international airport, shortly after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed from a trip to the US.

The Israeli military said a missile launched from Yemen was intercepted shortly after the sirens were heard. There were no reports of injuries.

It was not immediately known if the missile strike was aimed at Netanyahu’s flight.

Netanyahu cut short his trip to the US to deal with the growing crisis in Israel’s battle against Hezbollah militants.

Iran’s president accuses the US of supporting Nasrallah’s killing

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian has offered condolences over the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and accused the United States of supporting his killing in Israeli airstrikes.

“The world community will not forget that the order of the terrorist strike was issued from New York and the Americans cannot absolve themselves from complicity with the Zionists,” Pezeshkian was quoted as saying in a statement read on Iranian state television.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned what he called Israel’s “savage attacks” that have killed hundreds of Lebanese people.

In a post on X, Erdogan urged Muslim countries to “exhibit a more determined stance against these attacks.”

“With the United Nations Security Council first and foremost, we are calling to action all institutions working toward global peace, stability and security, as well as all human rights organizations,” he wrote.

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen mourned Nasrallah’s death and said the killing won’t deter Hezbollah or other Iranian-backed groups fighting against “the Israeli enemy.”

The Houthis have launched drone and missile attacks on shipping routes and on Israel as part of their support for Palestinian militant groups.

Iran says one of its Revolutionary Guard generals died in the Israeli strike

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran says a prominent general in its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard died in an airstrike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut.

The state-run IRNA news agency says Abbas Nilforushan, 58, was killed Friday in Lebanon.

Nilforushan was sanctioned in 2022 by the US government, which identified him as deputy commander for operations in the guard. It said he had been a leader in suppressing protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, who died after being arrested for allegedly not wearing her headscarf properly.

Nilforushan also served in Syria, backing President Bashar Assad in the civil war that grew out of the 2011 Arab Spring.

In 2020, Iranian state television called him a “comrade” of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of the expeditionary Quds Force, who was killed in a 2020 US drone attack in Baghdad.

Lebanese government says death toll tops 1,000 in less than two weeks  BEIRUT — Lebanon’s health minister says 1,030 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon in less than two weeks, more than in the previous 11 months.

Health Minister Firass Abiad says the toll includes 156 women and 87 children.

A total of 1,640 people in Lebanon have died since Hezbollah began firing rockets over the border into Israel in support of its ally, Hamas, the day after Hamas’ deadly raid into Israel on October 7, 2023.

The health ministry counted 11 people killed and 108 wounded on Friday, but said the true toll may be higher.

Israel bars large gatherings in some areas because of concern over Hezbollah counterattack

TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s military updated guidelines for residents on Saturday that prohibit large gatherings, demonstrations, and sports events in central Israel due to concerns of a counterattack after Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

School remains cancelled in northern Israel for some 600,000 students.

Israeli army spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israel expects “challenging days ahead” as the country braces for a response. Hagari said at a media briefing that Nasrallah “posed a threat to Israeli citizens for decades, and his elimination makes the world a safer place.”

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Friday’s strike in southern Beirut that killed Nasrallah was one of “the most important targeted strikes since the founding of the state of Israel.”

Lebanese fire shots into air to mourn Nasrallah’s death

BAABDA, Lebanon — Shots rang out in Hezbollah’s stronghold of southern Beirut and other areas of Lebanon as people fired in the air to mourn the death of the only leader many Lebanese have known for the powerful militant group.

Angry supporters shouted, decrying his death. One woman holding her baby in the western city of Baabda, shouted: “Wish it was our kids, not you, Sayyid,” using an honorific title for Nasrallah.

The Gaza-based Palestinian militant group Hamas issued condolences to its ally, Hezbollah. It said Nasrallah’s death would not stop the two Iran-backed militant groups’ fight against Israel.

Hamas said in a statement that “assassinations will only increase the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine in determination and resolve.”