The Israel Defense Forces targeted Hezbollah leader Hassan Hasrallah in a “precision strike” on Friday against Hezbollah's headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon.
IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the headquarters was intentionally built in the heart of Dahieh in Beirut, beneath residential buildings “as part of Hezbollah's strategy of using the Lebanese as human shields.”
Videos and images show plumes of smoke rising over Beirut following the Israeli attacks. Witnesses say they heard multiple bangs. It is unclear whether Nasrallah was attacked.
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Smoke rises, after what Hezbollah's Al-Manar television says was an Israeli attack, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, on 27 September 2024. (Reuters)
Hezbollah's al-Manar television reported that four buildings were destroyed and there were many casualties in the multiple attacks, which marked an escalation of Israel's conflict with Hezbollah, heavily armed and backed by Iran.
Security sources in Lebanon said the attack targeted an area where senior Hezbollah officials are usually based. It was the most intense attack in Beirut in nearly a year of conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.
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“On October 8, Hezbollah began attacking Israel after almost a year of Hezbollah firing rockets, missiles and suicide drones at Israeli civilians,” Hagari said.
“After almost a year of Israel warning the world and telling them that Hezbollah must be stopped, Israel is doing what every sovereign state in the world would do if it had a terrorist organization seeking its destruction on its border: taking the necessary measures. to protect our people so that Israeli families can leave their homes safely.”
Fox News learned that the target of the attack was Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, photographed in a televised speech in January. (REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir)
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Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh says the United States was not involved in this operation and received no prior warning.
“Minister [Yoav] Gallant spoke with Secretary Austin because the operation was already underway,” Singh said. “This operation occurred in the last few hours. “We are still evaluating the event.”
The Pentagon also declined to speculate on whether the Hezbollah leader was still alive.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the attacks on Friday from a New York hotel. (Fox News)
A White House official says President Biden has been briefed on the operation.
The attacks hit Beirut shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue Israel's attacks on Iranian-backed fighters in Lebanon in a closely watched United Nations speech, as hopes for a halt faded. the fire that could prevent a total regional war.
A car lies in a gaping hole at the site of an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut. (Associated Press)
Netanyahu will shorten his stay in the United States and leave for Israel on Friday, Fox News sources say. This is understood to be a rare move by an Israeli prime minister as Shabbat is a day of rest for Jews.
WATCH: SMOKE FROM THE STRIKE RISES OVER BEIRUT
The fight between Israel and Hezbollah The situation has escalated dramatically over the past month, as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began attacking the terrorist network's hotspots and military storage units, all of which are strategically embedded within civilian villages.
Reuters contributed to this report.
