Israel kills Hezbollah leader, Iran general in Beirut

[Pelican Press 0]

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******* ****** Hezbollah leader, Iran general in Beirut

******* has ******* Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in a powerful air strike in Beirut, dealing a huge ***** to the group as it reels from an escalating campaign of ******** attacks.

The ******** military said on Saturday it had eliminated Nasrallah in the strike on the group’s central command headquarters in Beirut’s southern suburbs a day earlier.

Hezbollah confirmed he had been *******, without saying how.

A statement said Nasrallah “has joined his fellow martyrs”.

Nasrallah’s ****** is not only a major ***** to Hezbollah but also to Iran, removing an influential ally who helped build Hezbollah into the linchpin of Iran’s constellation of allied groups in the ***** world.

A senior member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, deputy commander Abbas Nilforoushan, was also ******* in ******** attacks in Beirut, Iranian media reported on Saturday.

Hezbollah said in a statement that it would continue its battle against ******* “in support of Gaza and Palestine, and in defence of Lebanon and its steadfast and honourable people”.

Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV aired Koran verses after his ****** was announced.

Bursts of gunfire were heard in Beirut.

Friday’s air strike – a succession of massively powerful blasts that left a crater at least 20 metres deep – shook Beirut.

******* carried out further air strikes on the area and more widely in Lebanon on Saturday.

The ******** military said earlier that Nasrallah was eliminated in a “targeted strike” on the group’s underground headquarters beneath a residential building in Dahiyeh – a Hezbollah-controlled southern suburb of Beirut.

It said he was ******* along with another top Hezbollah leader, Ali Karaki, and other commanders.

“The strike was conducted while Hezbollah’s senior chain of command were operating from the headquarters and advancing ********** activities against the citizens of the State of *******,” it said.

Nasrallah’s ****** is by far the most significant ***** in a devastating fortnight for Hezbollah, starting with a deadly ******* on thousands of wireless communications devices used by its members.

******* also significantly ramped up air strikes in Lebanon, ******** several top Hezbollah commanders and hundreds of other people across wide areas of the country.

Hezbollah gave no immediate indication of who might succeed Nasrallah.

Senior Hezbollah official Sayyed Hashem Safieddine has long been regarded as heir apparent.

The group has not issued any statement on Safieddine’s status or that of any other Hezbollah leaders – apart from Nasrallah – since the *******.

Friday’s attacks on Dahiyeh were followed by more strikes on the area and other areas of Lebanon on Saturday.

Hezbollah continued its cross-border rocket ***** on Saturday, setting off sirens and sending residents running for shelter deep inside *******.

******** missile defences blocked some of them and there was no immediate report of injuries.

The escalation has increased fears the conflict could spin out of control, potentially drawing in Iran, Hezbollah’s principal backer, as well as the ******* States.

******** Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said *******’s war was not with the Lebanese people, calling Nasrallah the “********* of thousands of Israelis and foreign citizens”.

“To the people of Lebanon, I say: our war is not with you. It’s time for change,” he said.

Hezbollah has been waging hostilities with ******* since the eruption of the Gaza war a year ago, when it opened ***** declaring solidarity with its ************ ally ******.

Hezbollah has said it would only cease ***** when *******’s Gaza Strip offensive ends.

****** and other allies of Hezbollah issued statements mourning his ******.

Residents have fled Dahiyeh, seeking shelter in downtown Beirut and other parts of the city.

“Yesterday’s strikes were unbelievable. We had fled before and then went back to our homes but then the ******** got more and more intense, so we came here, waiting for Netanyahu to stop the ********,” said Dalal Daher, speaking near Beirut’s Martyrs Square, referring to ******** Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

******* says it has been attacking Hezbollah with the aim of allowing tens of thousands of residents who fled northern ******* to return home.

In Lebanon, more than 200,000 people have been displaced, about half of them since Monday.

with AP

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