Hezbollah confirms boss Hassan Nasrallah IS dead as Iran admits senior Revolutionary Guard commander was also killed in Beirut attack - as IDF laughs in the face of terror group with mocking message
By Iwan Stone and James Reynolds
Dauly Mail
Sep 28, 2024
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards' deputy commander Abbas Nilforoushan was also killed during the strikes in Beirut on Friday
Iran has called on Muslims to stand against the 'rabid dog' of Israel and back Hezbollah after the IDF killed their commander in an air strike.
Confirming Hassan Nasrallah's death today, Hezbollah pledged to keep fighting Israel - saying that the leader had 'joined his fellow martyrs'.
They said in a statement: 'The leadership of Hezbollah pledges... to continue its jihad in confronting the enemy, supporting Gaza and Palestine, and defending Lebanon and its steadfast and honorable people.'
Iran's Supreme Leader pledged that 'all regional resistance forces' would support Hezbollah, demanding a 'strong' response to the attack.
Tensions etched up as it was reported that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' deputy commander Abbas Nilforoushan was also killed during the strikes in Beirut on Friday, per Iranian state media.
Israel also continued its bombardment of Beirut through Saturday afternoon, striking the district where Nasrallah was killed a day prior.
And as the region appears to be on the brink of war, the Israeli military boasted that the decapitation of Hezbollah was 'not the end of our toolbox' and gloated that they can 'reach' anyone who threatens them.
Revealing Nasrallah's death this morning, a triumphant IDF spokesperson said: 'Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorize the world.'
In a brazen taunt to the countries surrounding them, this morning the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) shared a diagram of the Hezbollah chain of command, where each leader had been marked up as 'Eliminated'.
Copying a popular 'meme' template, the post on Twitter read: 'We searched up "dismantled" on the internet, this is the picture that came up.'
Israel released a graphic showing the Hezbollah senior figures who had so far been 'eliminated' - adding that they had 'dismantled' the group
Hassan Nasrallah spoke to the
world in front of a red screen last Thursday, insisting that the deadly
attacks 'deserve a response' before launching salvoes of rockets towards
Israel
People check a damaged building at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Choueifat, south east of Beirut
A child sleeps on the ground in Beirut's Martyrs' square after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Dahiyeh
A group gather carrying Nasrallah's poster and chanting slogans following Hezbollah's statement on the streets of Beirut
A group gather carrying Nasrallah's poster and chanting slogans following Hezbollah's statement after Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah was killed
A protester holds a picture of late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during an anti-Israel protest in Palestine Square in Tehran, Iran
Smoke rises from the rubble of a building that which levelled in overnight Israeli bombardment
A damaged building at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Choueifat, southeast of Beirut, following strikes this morning and last night
Bracing for retaliation, Israel announced it was calling up three battalions of reserve soldiers to join two brigades already training in northern Israel, close to the Lebanese border.
In Lebanon, armoured vehicles have now been deployed to the streets of Beirut as the army anticipates clashes between Shia Muslim and Christian neighbourhoods, Al Jazeera reports.
As fear of a spiraling conflict spread across the Middle East experts anticipate ferocious response from Iran. Dr Abed El Qadir Kanaaneh, a Hezbollah expert from Tel Aviv University, said: 'The gates of hell are opening right now.'
Another security specialist added that it could lead to attacks 'across the world'.
Iran's Supreme Leader, who is the head of state and responsible of the Revolutionary Guards Corps, is said to have been moved to secure location under heightened security with the world awaiting Israel's next move.
In his first comments since Israel claimed to have killed Nasrallah, 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 added that 'all regional resistance forces' support and stand beside Hezbollah.
He continued: 'The massacre of the defenceless people in Lebanon once again revealed the ferocity of the Zionist rabid dog to everyone, and proved the short-sighted and stupid policy of the leaders of the usurping regime.'
Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said Saturday that the killing of Nasrallah will bring about Israel's 'destruction'.
'We warn the leaders of the occupying regime that the unjust bloodshed... especially of Hezbollah's secretary general, martyr Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, will bring about their destruction,' Iran's ISNA news agency quoted Aref as saying.
Iranian Foreign Minister Nasser Kanani added on Twitter/X: 'The glorious path of the leader of the resistance, Hassan Nasrallah, will continue and his sacred goal will be realised in the liberation of Quds (Jerusalem), God willing.'
Sources from with Iran have said they are in constant contact with Hezbollah and other regional proxy groups to determine the next step after Israel announced that it had killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in a strike on south Beirut on Friday.
Explosions were heard in Israel on Saturday, shortly after Benjamin Netanyahu landed back at Tel Aviv's international airport after returning from New York.
Israel's military said sirens rang out late Saturday afternoon in central areas of the country as a missile fired from Yemen was intercepted, with AFP journalists reporting hearing explosions over Jerusalem.
'A short while ago, sirens were sounded in central Israel as a result of a missile launched from Yemen toward Israeli territory,' a military statement said, later announcing that air defences had intercepted it.
The Houthi rebels in Yemen said earlier on Saturday that they were mourning the Hezbollah chief, who had been their ally against Israel.
They said: 'The resistance will not be broken, and the Jihadist spirit of the Mujahideen brothers in Lebanon and on all fronts of support will grow stronger and bigger.'
They added: 'The martyrdom of... Hassan Nasrallah will increase the flame of sacrifice, the heat of enthusiasm, the strength of resolve.'
Hamas, too, voiced its support from Gaza in a later statement, saying: 'We extend our sincere condolences, sympathy and solidarity to the brotherly Lebanese people and brothers in Hezbollah and the Islamic resistance in Lebanon.'
'We condemn in the strongest terms this barbaric Zionist aggression and the targeting of residential buildings … in the southern suburb of Beirut, and we consider this a cowardly act of terrorism, a massacre and a heinous crime, which proves once again the bloodiness and brutality of this occupation.'
Iraq declared three days of mourning in light of Nasrallah's death.
People stand near a picture of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah during the funeral of Hezbollah member Ali Mohamed Chalbi earlier this month
Boys scouts carry a picture of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on September 19
A woman reacts to the news of the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, after the terror group confirmed he had been killed
A woman raises her hand in the air and wails after hearing of the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut
The death of Nasrallah causes a woman in Beirut to weep
An Iraqi volunteer kisses a picture of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, while registering his name to support Hezbollah yesterday
Iraqi volunteers gather to register their names to support Lebanon's Hezbollah following a call from the Jihad and Construction Movement, a Shi'a Islamist Iraqi political party, in Basra, Iraq yesterday
Women clad in black chadors chant slogans while holding pictures of late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during an anti-Israel protest in Palestine Square in Tehran, Iran
Today, the IDF defended their strikes in Beirut, killing Nasrallah, saying Hezbollah was planning its 'own October 7.'
Spokesperson Daniel Hagari said they took out the commander when he was in Hezbollah's central headquarters.
He said: 'Hassan Nasrallah had the blood of thousands of men, women, children on his hands.
'Israeli, Jews. Jews across the world. Lebanese. Americans. British. French. Syrians, and other countless victims across the middle east and beyond.'
He continued: 'Hezbollah has openly declared that it has a plan to carry out its own October 7 massacre on Israels northern border, but even in a larger scale.
'Hezbollah has been planning to do this in northern Israel, what Hamas did in southern Israel on October 7 - invade Israel, infiltrate communities and massacre innocent civilians.
'Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of an evil terrorist organisation, the senior terrorist eliminated with him, and the central headquarters were a legitimate military target under international law.'
Hagari added that Israel had tried to 'minimise' casualties while Hezbollah used civilians as 'human shields', saying that their war is 'not with the Lebanese people'.
He concluded: 'Hezbollah is dragging the state of Lebanon and the entire region into a wider escalation. Israel does not seek a wider escalation.
'We seek two things, two simple things: To bring our hostages home from almost a year in Hamas captivity and to make sure that our borders are safe and secure for our citizens.'
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that Nasrallah 'deserved' to die and that the Israeli air raid on Beirut that killed him was justified.
'The elimination of arch-terrorist Nasrallah is one of the most justified counter-terrorism actions Israel has ever taken,' Katz said in a post on X.
He added that the Lebanese militant leader 'deserved to be taken down, and it's a good thing he was'.
But tensions are only likely to escalate as state media report a senior general in Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps was killed alongside Nasrallah.
General Abbas Nilforoushan, deputy commander of Guards operations, 'was killed in Israel's attack on Lebanon that assassinated the Hezbollah chief,' said the official IRNA news agency, giving no further details.
He had been a key player in the Iranian actions in the region and had advised Hezbollah on military and diplomatic affairs.
He is believed to have fought with the Assad regime during the Syrian Civil War and played a major role crushing anti-Iranian protests.
A rocket is launched from southern Lebanon as smoke billows from behind the Em e Nour Shrine after an Israeli Air Force air strike, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel
A man reacts after hearing the news of the death of the Hezbollah leader as people are seen crying in the streets and crowds gather
Syrians gather in the rebel-held northwestern city of Idlib in the early hours of September 28 following news claiming the death of Lebanon's Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasralla
Syrians wave flags and take videos as they gather following the news of the Hezbollah leader's death
A woman clad in a black chador chants slogans during an anti-Israel protest after the death of late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Palestine Square in Tehran
Protesters hold pictures of late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and late Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani during an anti-Israel protest in Palestine Square in Tehran, Iran
Protesters hold pictures of late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and a Palestinian flag during an anti-Israel protest in Palestine Square in Tehran, Iran
Smoke rises from the impact sites near a settlement following the Israeli army's attack in Khiam town of Nabatieh, Lebanon
A fire rages near residential building following the Israeli army's attack in Khiam town of Nabatieh, Lebanon
Rubble of damaged buildings lies at the site of Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon
Nasrallah's death provoked urgent responses from around the world.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday condemned Israel's attacks in Lebanon as part of what he called an Israeli policy of 'genocide, occupation, and invasion', urging the U.N. Security Council and other bodies to stop Israel.
France, meanwhile, assured that it was in contact with the Lebanese authorities in an effort to help de-escalate the situation.
Iran's Supreme leader called on Muslims to confront and 'assist' Hezbollah against the 'wicked regime' of Israel 'with whatever means they have'.
Iran, who have been an ally and financial backer of the terrorist group since 1982, have also today been blocked by Israel from entering the Lebanon airspace - as they threatened that they would use 'force' if any aircraft from the country landed.
Lebanon's transport secretary personally intervened to stop one plane from touching lives, he confirmed to Sky News, with a source saying: 'The priority is people's lives.'
Iran Air has cancelled all flights to Beirut until further notice, the airline's spokesman told local media including the Tasnim news agency on Saturday.
Israel stood by the assassination.
In a thinly-veiled threat to neighbouring states Israel's Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, this morning said that the elimination of Nasrallah was 'not the end of our toolbox.'
He said that the strike targeting Hezbollah leadership was the result of a long period of preparation and they would 'reach' anyone who threatens Israel. He added that the army is 'at full readiness in all of our fronts'.
'There's still a way to go. Hezbollah still has rockets and missiles and has the capability of shooting many of them simultaneously,' military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani added to an online press briefing.
IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari insisted that the Hezbollah headquarters where Nasrallah was killed was a legitimate target under international law on Saturday.
People take part in an anti-Israel protest after the death of late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Palestine Square in Tehran, Iran
Kashmiri Shiite Muslims shout anti-Israel and anti-U.S. slogans during a protest against the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir
A woman reacts, among other displaced people, following the announcement of the death of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in Beirut, Lebanon
People stand next to a billboard with a picture of late Hezbollah leader in Tehran today
An Iranian man raises a picture of Lebanon's Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah during an anti-Israel protest in Tehran yesterday
A child carries styrofoam pieces to use them for shelter at Beirut's central Martyrs' Square, where many families spend the night fleeing the overnight Israeli strikes
Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces
People check the devastation in the Haret Hreik neighbourhood of Beirut's southern suburbs, in the aftermath of the first wave of Israeli strikes
Families sit on the ground in Martyrs' square after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs
The country say they are now on high alert for a broader conflict - although they say they hope Nasrallah's death will cause the Iran-backed group to change course.
Experts suggest the regime change could be opportunity for Lebanon if managed well.
Dr Ozcelik, Senior Research Fellow for Middle East Security at the Royal United Services Institute defence and security think tank (RUSI), told MailOnline today: 'The deep entanglement between Lebanon and Hezbollah is now being tested and interrogated by those who have long opposed Hezbollah.
'Amid the uncertainty and fear in Lebanon, this may be an opportunity for Lebanon to reconstitute its internal dynamics.
'But it will not be easy, and Hezbollah will not vanish overnight as a significant actor inside Lebanon and the region despite the pummelling it has endured.'
For now, beheading Hezbollah has sparked fears that the conflict could spiral.
Colonel Philip Ingram MBE, a former British military intelligence, counterintelligence, and security officer, told MailOnline that Iran will be 'further embarrassed' by Israel's reported successes against Hezbollah.
'The Iranian response would be one that we have to watch very closely,' he said.
'They will want to come out and try and show to the region that they are still strong and therefore I suspect we will see an increased number of attacks focused not just on Israeli interests and the possibility of an attack from Iran against Israel itself... but then attacks against US, UK and allied interests across the Middle East and potentially across the world.'
Col. Ingram said this could materialise as 'terrorist attacks against US bases in Syria, Jordan and Iraq' or the 'further encouragement of attacks by the Houthis against commercial shipping in the Red Sea'.
'We will also see massive increases in simulated protests in capital cities around the world,' he added.
Dr Andreas Krieg, Assistant Professor of Defence Studies at King's College London, told MailOnline: 'What's likely going to happen here is that Iran will have to do something because the red line was crossed.
'They might give permission to use more ballistic missiles, more to attack more strategic targets in Israel, knowing that then the IDF will likely move into Lebanon.
'Obviously Hezbollah will have to respond. Iran will have to respond and, if they do, I think they will have to respond in kind, which means they will have to hit strategic targets.'
Such a 'seismic event' for regional politics is likely to have a 'major impact' on the 'Axis of Resistance beyond Hezbollah', forcing escalation with Israel, while trying to avoid overspilling into the Gulf, he said.
In Lebanon, the question now turns to stability. Without a clear successor for Nasrallah, concerns mount that a more radical leader could replace him, reverting the group to the most 'belligerent' politics of decades gone by.
'I don't think Israel has done itself a favour because what will come next within Hezbollah will likely be worse, less restrained, and will most likely not get them the sort of peace they want in the north,' Dr Krieg said.
'Research shows that every time Israel does kill a leader ... over the last 40 years or so, in any of the organisations against which Israel has fought, it will lead to a more radical individual taking that place, so it has been a self-defeating strategy, this sort of strategy of whack-a-mole.'
Nasrallah's death marks Israel's biggest success of the war so far. Over three decades in power, he moulded Hezbollah into the group it is today.
Nasrallah had been in power since February 1992, overseeing the group in its transition from a militant group forged in the 1982 Lebanon War, against the backdrop of the wider Lebanese Civil War, into a political party and regional powerhouse.
His death would deal a massive blow to the Iran-backed group, potentially destabilising Lebanon as a whole.
Under the leadership of the 64-year-old Shia cleric, Hezbollah has fought wars against Israel and taken part in the conflict in neighboring Syria, helping tip the balance of power in favor of President Bashar Assad.
Rarely seen in public, Nasrallah enjoyed cult status among his Shiite Muslim supporters and was the only man in Lebanon with the power to wage war or make peace.
His willingness to stand against Israel, and its main ally in the U.S., earned him respect and popularity from some of those who remember Israel reaching Beirut during its bid to oust the Palestine Liberation Organization from Lebanon in 1982.
When the civil war ended in 1990, Hezbollah began its transformation into a political party and movement. But it ensured its longevity by holding onto the weapons accumulated through the war and allying ever closer with a post-revolutionary Iran.
Nasrallah was seen as more of a pragmatist than the leaders of Hezbollah in 1982. But he retained authority locally by backing up his threats with willingness to use force.
Ultimately, it was Nasrallah that was credited with the recovery of southern Lebanon, after Israel withdrew in 2000 after years of exchanges.
8-months-old Heaven sleeps on a blanket at a park after she and her family were displaced by Israeli airstrikes on Dahieh
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah addresses the crowd in Beirut's southern suburbs on January 29, 2004
A Lebanese man showing a poster of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah that he found among the rubble of his house in July 2006
A man looks at paintings depicting (L-R) late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Iranian slain General Qasem Soleimani displayed next to a portrait of Yemen's Houthi Supreme Political Council chairman Mahdi al-Mashat on a fence, in Sana'a, Yemen
A woman helps a boy to wash his head on a street as Beirut residents stay on streets after fleeing their homes following new series of Isaeli strikes in Beirut
The Israeli army launched more than 40 attacks on buildings in various parts of the Dahiyeh area south of Beirut
Israeli soldiers stand next to and on their tanks at a gathering point in northern Israel this afternoon
The Israeli army (Tsahal) said on 28 September that military forces continue to strike infrastructure sites of the Hezbollah organization in Lebanon
The army struck over 140 Hezbollah targets since midnight 28 September, including launchers aimed at Israeli civilians, and buildings in which weapons were stored
Smoke rises following Israeli overnight strikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut
A fireman fights the blaze of a building hit in overnight Israeli airstrikes in the Kafaat neighbourhood of the Lebanese capital's southern suburbs
Lebanese people entering Syria through the al-Masnaa border crossing between Lebanon and Syria
Lebanese people entering Syria through the al-Masnaa border crossing between Lebanon and Syria
Supporters of Hezbollah attend a televised speech by the group's leader Hassan Nasrallah in the Lebanese capital Beirut's southern suburbs on January 3, 2023
A man shows a photo of Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary-general of Hezbollah, as people demonstrate against Israel and the attack on Lebanon at Palestine square in Tehran
In light of his death, experts this morning said that Israel now appears to be 'softening' Hezbollah ahead of a ground invasion.
Professor Fawaz Gerges, chair of contemporary Middle Eastern Studies at the London School of Economics, told Sky News: 'What we have now is all-out war. We have been warning about it in the last 12 months.
He continued: 'Israel has been trying to systematically destroy the leadership structure of Hezbollah – and there are hundreds of leaders who could replace him [Hassan Nasrallah].
'But this is Israel trying to soften that structure in preparation for a ground invasion.'
And he has warned that Iran could respond to the attack either by launching a direct attack, sending weapons to Lebanon or sending thousands of fighters to Hezbollah.
It comes as the IDF released a graphic on social media showing the Hezbollah senior figures who had so far been 'eliminated' - adding that they had 'dismantled' the group.
At least six have been killed as the Israeli air force targeted Hezbollah production sites they claimed were under civilian housing, although this number is expected to rise today and charities say the country is facing the prospect of a humanitarian 'catastrophe'.
A source close to Hezbollah told AFP on condition of anonymity that contact with Nasrallah had been lost since Friday evening.
He had been rumoured killed during Israel's last war with Hezbollah in 2006, the source said, adding that he later re-emerged unscathed.
A military statement said the strikes also killed Ali Karake, who the statement identified as commander of Hezbollah's southern front, and an unspecified number of other Hezbollah commanders.
'During Hassan Nasrallah's 32-year reign as the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, he was responsible for the murder of many Israeli civilians and soldiers, and the planning and execution of thousands of terrorist activities,' the statement said.
'He was responsible for directing and executing terrorist attacks around the world in which civilians of various nationalities were murdered.
'Nasrallah was the central decision-maker and the strategic leader of the organisation.'
The IDF this morning further claimed to have eliminated the head of the Palestinian Hamas's network in southern Syria, whom it referred to as Ahmad Muhammad Fahd.
In a statement, they said that he had been killed 'while planning an imminent terror attack' and had previously carried out multiple attacks, including rocket fire on the Golan Heights.
And in Lebanon, they said strikes had killed the commander of Hezbollah's missile unit in the south of the country, Muhammad Ali Ismail, and his deputy, Hussein Ahmad Ismail, who they claimed had taken part in 'numerous' attacks on Israel.
Terrified families have been pictured fleeing the country - many of whom are Syrian refugees who have already had to leave due to fighting in their homeland.
More than 50,000 have now crossed into Syria fleeing airstrikes, with 'well over 200,000' displaced within Lebanon, the UN high commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, has said.
Hassan Nasrallah had become a shadowy figure, seldom making public appearances in spite of his reputation in Lebanon.
He came to the world's attention last week when he vowed swift retaliation for a series of explosions across the country.
Lebanon is still reeling from the detonations of thousands of mobile paging devices and walkie talkies last Tuesday and Wednesday respectively, killing dozens and injuring thousands.
The government held Israel accountable for the attack, but notably it was Hezbollah that threatened direct action. For its part, Israel denies any involvement in the explosions.
A young boy stands in front of a destroyed building in the aftermath of overnight Israeli airstrikes on the Mreijeh neighbourhood of Beirut's southern suburbs
ALebanese man showing a poster of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and portrait of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, next to the heavily damaged buildings in 2006
People check a damaged building at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Choueifat, south east of Beirut
Debris are scattered along a street in the aftermath of overnight Israeli airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs
Smoke rises from the rubble of a building that which levelled in overnight Israeli bombardment on Beirut's southern suburbs
Thousands of people are fleeing to Homs, Aleppo, Damascus and Hama provinces in Syria following the Israeli army's attacks on different parts of Lebanon
Lebanese people have entered Syria in the last three days through the al-Masnaa border crossing
Lebanese people who fled their homes stay overnight on the streets of Beirut amid the mass exodus from the south of the country
Families carry their belongings in Beirut's Martyrs' square after fleeing the Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Dahiyeh
Lebanese citizens watch smoke rise from Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon
Locals who fled the city watch their homes burn from higher ground as they take cover from air strikes
Plumes of smoke rise over Beirut's southern suburbs following overnight Israeli bombardment
Residents check the damaged in the aftermath of overnight Israeli bombardment in Beirut's southern suburbs
Smoke and fire rise following an Israeli airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon
Plumes of smoke rise over Beirut's southern suburbs following overnight Israeli bombardment
Airstrikes this week have killed hundreds of people in Lebanon, including dozens of women and children, according to Health Ministry statistics. A number of people have been injured in Israel.
Patients in hospitals in Beirut's southern suburbs are being evacuated to medical centers in the capital and the nearby Mount Lebanon region as they ask the medical centres to make room for people from hard-hit Beirut suburbs.
In a statement carried by state news agency early Saturday, the ministry called on hospitals in Beirut and Mount Lebanon to stop receiving cases that can be delayed in order to receive patients evacuating from the hard-hit southern suburb Dahiyeh.
It comes as a senior Unicef official has said Lebanon is facing the prospect of a humanitarian 'catastrophe'.
Ettie Higgins, Unicef's deputy representative in Lebanon, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'We are seeing thousands and thousands of people leave the southern suburbs of Beirut towards safety or any area at all that can give them safety.'
Describing children, of whom she said at least 50 had been killed, as 'terrified' and hospitals as 'completely overwhelmed with injured people', she said the supplies Unicef had positioned in the country in advance of the strikes by Israel were 'virtually completely used up'.
She added: 'This week we have seen major water pumping stations destroyed, so urgent efforts are needed to get safe, clean drinking water to hundreds of thousands of people who are now looking for alternative sources of water.
'So even the most basic essential services of healthcare and water are now being rapidly, rapidly depleted. There was already a humanitarian crisis in Lebanon given that it's been hosting over 1 million refugees from Syria for over a decade, so it's rapidly escalating into a catastrophe.'
This is the moment Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave the green light to 'unprecedented' strikes against Hezbollah targets in Beirut, Lebanon
Footage emerging on social media show the intensity of the bombardment over Beirut
Hellscape: The night sky in Beirut turned orange and red amid intense strikes from the IDF
Israeli forces launched the strike in a bid to target Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah
Beirut has been left a smouldering wreck following a series of intense IDF airstrikes
The strikes came just hours after Netanyahu flew to the US, thereby 'tricking' Hezbollah into thinking they were safe, a senior Israeli official said on Frida
People and rescuers gather near the rubble of a building destroyed in the Israeli air strike
Smoke rises above Beirut's southern suburbs during the Israeli strike earlier on Friday
Residents said they heard multiple blasts on Friday, believed to be from Israeli 'shelling'
Netanyahu said he had not intended to come to New York to address the UN assembly this year, but felt compelled to do so 'to set the record straight'
Huge clouds of smoke towered over Beirut on Friday afternoon
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York, U.S., September 27, 2024
Pallbearers carry the coffin of Mohammad Surur, head of one of Hezbollah's air force units who was killed in Israel's strike on Beirut's southern suburbs on Thursday
A rescue worker runs amid the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli air strike in the Haret Hreik neighbourhood of Beirut's southern suburbs
A rescuer fights the blaze amid the smouldering rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli air strike in the Haret Hreik neighbourhood of Beirut
People and a fire truck rush to the scene of an Israeli air strike in Haret Hreik
Israel has reported several successful missions targeting Hezbollah's senior command in recent days as it stretches its operations in Lebanon.
The IDF shared footage this week purporting to show the Israeli Air Force (IAF) striking Muhammed Hussein Srour in a building in Beirut on Thursday.
Srour - the leader of Hezbollah's Aerial Command - had been behind 'numerous aerial terror attacks... aimed at the people of Israel' over the years, according to the IDF.
Military officials said Ibrahim Kobeisi, directing the group's missile and rocket unit, was killed during its bombardment of Beirut on Tuesday.
'Other key commanders' were said to be with Kobeisi at the time, but it was not clear whether any were killed or wounded.
Israel's said on Monday it had targeted senior Hezbollah leader Ali Karaki in another airstrike on Beirut - but Hezbollah later claimed he had survived and been moved.
Ibrahim Aqil, the head of Hezbollah's military operations and acting commander of the Radwan Force, was among 16 commanders killed when devices exploded across Lebanon last week.
An Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Lebanon's capital on July 30 killed Hezbollah's top commander Fuad Shukr, identified by the Israeli military as the right-hand man of Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
Shukr was one of Hezbollah's leading military figures since it was established by Iran's Revolutionary Guards more than four decades ago.
Mohammed Nasser, responsible for operations at the fronier, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on July 3. Israel claimed responsibility, saying he headed a unit responsible for firing from southwestern Lebanon at Israel.
Senior Hezbollah field commander Taleb Abdallah, commander for the central region of the southern border strip, was killed on June 12 in a strike claimed by Israel, which said it had hit a command and control centre in southern Lebanon.
Hundreds of people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon over the last week, according to Lebanese figures.
Ongoing fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has driven tens of thousands of people from their homes on both sides of the border.
Israel is vowing to step up its attacks on Hezbollah until its citizens can return safely to their homes.
The joint ceasefire statement made on Wednesday said the situation in Lebanon has become 'intolerable' and 'is in nobody's interest, neither of the people of Israel nor of the people of Lebanon.'
1 comment:
Maybe Allah is trying to tell his followers he does not WANT them to act like ignorant violent goatfuckers.
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