Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah killed by Israeli airstrike in Lebanon's capital Beirut
Israel's military said Saturday that it killed Hassan Nasrallah, the overall leader of the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, in a Friday airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon. The militant group confirmed Nasrallah's death, saying its longtime leader "has joined his fellow martyrs."
Two United States officials also confirmed Nasrallah's death to CBS News.
The afternoon strike, carried out by fighter jets, targeted the group's "central headquarters," which were "embedded under a residential building" in Beirut's southern suburbs, according to the Israel Defense Forces. That region of the city has long been a stronghold of the U.S.-designated terror group.
Nasrallah, who only gave speeches via video because of his fear of assassination, led the terrorist group for 30 years with fiery rhetoric. He crystallized its threats to destroy Israel and the U.S. presence in Lebanon, and his death now leaves a void of leadership in the strongest paramilitary force in the Middle East.
In his first public remarks since the killing, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday evening that Israel had no choice but to target Nasrallah.
"At the start of the week, I came to the conclusion that the intense blows the Israeli military struck Hezbollah with, these blows were not enough. Nasrallah's assassination was an essential condition to achieving the goals we set," Netanyahu said.
In a separate statement Saturday, Israeli Army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said Nasrallah's killing demonstrated "anyone who threatens the citizens of Israel — we will know how to reach them."
The strike was the latest in a series of massive explosions targeting leaders of the militant group, which has been firing rockets and drones across Lebanon's southern border into Israel for almost a year amid the country's war with Hamas. An Israeli military official said Saturday that real-time intelligence on an operational opportunity allowed them to carry out the strike, which also killed Ali Karki, the Commander of Hezbollah's Southern Front, and additional Hezbollah commanders, according to the IDF.
"The strike was conducted while Hezbollah's senior chain of command were operating from the headquarters and advancing terrorist activities against the citizens of the State of Israel," the IDF said.
Israel has vowed to step up pressure on Hezbollah until it halts its attacks that have displaced tens of thousands of Israelis from communities near the Lebanese border. The recent fighting has also displaced more than 200,000 Lebanese in the past week, according to the United Nations.
The Israeli military said Saturday it was mobilizing three more battalions of reserve soldiers to serve across the country. It already sent two brigades to northern Israel to prepare for a possible ground invasion.
A U.S. official confirmed to CBS News on Saturday that Israel is continuing to send ground forces to its northern border and could launch a limited ground incursion into Lebanon in the next few days if a decision is made to do so.
When asked by reporters Saturday if an Israeli ground incursion into Lebanon was inevitable, President Biden responded, "It's time for a cease-fire."
Strikes destroy residential buildings
The Friday strikes leveled multiple high-rise apartment buildings in the biggest blasts to hit the Lebanese capital since Hezbollah started firing on Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, in response to Israel launching its war on the group's Hamas allies in the Gaza Strip.
At least 11 people were killed and 108 were wounded, Lebanon's health ministry said. The toll may rise, the ministry said, as people are believed to be buried under the rubble. The shock wave rattled windows and shook houses some 18 miles north of Beirut, and TV footage showed several craters — one with a car toppled into it — amid collapsed buildings in the densely populated, predominantly Shiite neighborhood.
A senior general in Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps was also reportedly killed in the strike, Iranian state media said Saturday. General Abbas Nilforoushan, 58, had been identified as the deputy commander for operations by the U.S. Treasury. The treasury sanctioned Nilforoushan amid the monthslong protests over the death of Mahsa Amini after her arrest and death in custody, saying that he led an organization "directly in charge of protest suppression."
Nilforoushan previously served in Syria, backing President Bashar Assad amid the country's decades-long war, and in 2020, Iranian state television called him a "comrade" of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of its expeditionary Quds Force who was killed in 2020 U.S. drone attack in Baghdad.
A senior Israeli official said Friday that the IDF had sought to minimize civilian casualties by striking in the daytime, when many people wouldn't be home. He said Israel was not seeking a broader regional war but that Hezbollah's military capabilities had been meaningfully degraded by the recent series of Israeli military operations and that the objective of the strike was to leave Hezbollah with a significant leadership gap.
Other Israeli strikes this week have killed more than 720 people in Lebanon, including dozens of women and children, according to Health Ministry statistics.
A predawn strike Friday in the mainly Sunni border town of Chebaa hit a home, killing nine members of the same family, the state news agency said. A resident identified the dead as Hussein Zahra, his wife Ratiba, their five children and two of their grandchildren.
The scope of Israel's operation in Lebanon remains unclear, but officials have said a ground invasion to push the militant group away from the border is a possibility. Israel has moved thousands of troops toward the border in preparation.
Hopes for cease-fires dwindle
In a possible early sign of the strikes' significance, Netanyahu abruptly cut short a visit to the United States to return home on Friday instead of waiting until the end of Sabbath on Saturday evening, his office said. Israeli politicians do not normally travel on the Sabbath except for matters of great import.
Hours earlier, Netanyahu addressed the U.N., vowing that Israel's campaign against Hezbollah would continue — further dimming hopes for an internationally backed cease-fire. Several delegates stood up and walked out before he gave his address.
The Pentagon said the U.S. had no advance warning of the strikes.
The White House said President Biden was briefed by his national security team "several times" on Friday and "has directed the Pentagon to assess and adjust as necessary U.S. force posture in the region to enhance deterrence, ensure force protection, and support the full range of U.S. objectives. He has also directed his team to ensure that U.S. embassies in the region take all protective measures as appropriate."
"The events of the past week and the past few hours underscore what a precarious moment this is for the Middle East and for the world," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a news conference Friday in New York, before Israel announced Nasrallah's death. "Israel has the right to defend itself against terrorism. The way it does so matters. The choices that all parties make in the coming days will determine which path this region is on, with profound consequences for its people now and possibly for years to come."
At the U.N., Netanyahu vowed to "continue degrading Hezbollah" until Israel achieves its goals. His comments dampened hopes for a U.S.-backed call for a 21-day truce between Israel and Hezbollah to allow time for a diplomatic solution. Hezbollah has not responded to the proposal.
Iraq, Iran call for support for Hezbollah
Iran's supreme leader urged all Muslims to stand by Hezbollah against Israel but did not indicate how Tehran would respond to Nasrallah's killing.
In his first comments since Nasrallah's death was confirmed, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, "it is the duty of all Muslims to stand by the people of Lebanon and Hezbollah" against the "occupier, evil and suppressor" regime of Israel.
In a statement read on state TV, he said "all regional resistance forces" support and stand beside Hezbollah.
Iran's influential parliamentary committee on national security met Saturday and demanded a "strong" response to Israel, state TV reported.
Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani declared a three-day mourning period in his country. Sudani came to power with the backing of a coalition of Iran-backed political factions, many of which have armed wings that are allied with Hezbollah.
Hezbollah said in a statement that it vows to "continue the holy war against the enemy and in support of Palestine."
Iranian-backed Hezbollah, the strongest armed force in Lebanon, began firing rockets into Israel almost immediately after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, which saw terrorists kill some 1,200 people in Israel and take 251 hostages. Since then, Hezbollah and the Israeli military have traded fire almost daily, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes on both sides of the border.
An Israeli security official said he expects a possible war against Hezbollah would not last for as long as the current war in Gaza because the Israeli military's goals are much narrower.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas in a statement issued condolences to its ally. Nasrallah frequently described launching rockets against northern Israel as a "support front" for Hamas and Palestinians in Gaza.
"History has proven that the resistance ... whenever its leaders die as martyrs, will be succeeded on the same path by a generation of leaders who are more valiant, stronger and more determined to continue the confrontation," the Hamas statement said, adding that "assassinations will only increase the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine in determination and resolve."
In Gaza, Israel aims to dismantle Hamas' military and political regime, but the goal in Lebanon is to push Hezbollah away from the border with Israel — "not a high bar like Gaza" in terms of operational objectives, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to military briefing guidelines.
President Biden calls death "a measure of justice"
Mr. Biden addressed Nasrallah's death in a statement from the White House on Saturday, saying the Hezbollah leader and his group were "responsible for killing hundreds of Americans over a four-decade reign of terror."
"His death from an Israeli airstrike is a measure of justice for his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis, and Lebanese civilians," Biden said.
Biden emphasized that the United States "fully supports Israel's right to defend itself against Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and any other Iranian-supported terrorist groups" and said he had directed Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to "further enhance the defense posture of U.S. military forces in the Middle East region to deter aggression and reduce the risk of a broader regional war."
The president said the U.S. hopes to de-escalate the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon through "diplomatic means," adding that the country has been pursuing deals in both regions: One to release hostages seized by Hamas and call a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and another that would return people "safely to their homes in Israel and southern Lebanon."
"It is time for these deals to close, for the threats to Israel to be removed, and for the broader Middle East region to gain greater stability," Biden said.
The State Department has ordered some employees and their families in Lebanon to leave the country. Other U.S. citizens seeking to leave Lebanon should complete a crisis intake form, the State Department said. Limited commercial flights remain available.
Lebanon remains under a Level 4, "Do Not Travel," advisory from the State Department, with the U.S. not able to guarantee the safety of citizens traveling within or out of Lebanon.
