Israel attacks Beirut, Nasrallah's future unclear after Friday's massive attack

Written by Maya Gebeily, Timour Azhari and James Mackenzie

BEIRUT/JERUSALEM – Israel launched airstrikes on areas south of Beirut and other areas of Lebanon on Saturday, a day after it attacked the headquarters of Hezbollah in what appeared to be an attempt to kill its leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

The fate of Nasrallah, the leader of the Iran-backed group for 32 years, remains unclear, as Hezbollah is yet to issue any statement on his status.

Reuters reporters heard more than 20 airstrikes in Beirut before dawn on Saturday and more after sunrise. Smoke could be seen rising from the southern part of the city controlled by Hezbollah, known as Dahiyeh.

Thousands of people have fled the area since Friday's attack, gathering in squares, parks and sidewalks in downtown Beirut and along the coast.

“They want to destroy Dahiyeh, they want to destroy all of us,” said Sari, a 30-year-old man who only gave his name, referring to the place he fled to after being ordered to leave Israel. Nearby, recent evacuees in Beirut's Martyrs Square roll up mats on the floor to try to sleep.

The Israeli military said a missile fired into central Israel on Saturday hit an open area. Earlier, the military said that about 10 projectiles fell from Lebanon into Israeli territory and that some were intercepted.

The Israeli military also said it was attacking Hezbollah in the Bekaa Valley, a region in eastern Lebanon on the Syrian border that it struck last week.

The five-hour Israeli strikes in Beirut early Saturday morning followed Friday's attack, the heaviest Israel has carried out in the city during the year-long conflict with Hezbollah that has played out like a war in Gaza.

The escalation has heightened fears that the conflict could spiral out of control, possibly drawing Iran, Hezbollah's main backer, and the United States into the fold.

There was no immediate confirmation of Nasrallah's fate after Friday's heavy strikes, but a source close to Hezbollah told Reuters he was unavailable.

Israel has not said whether it has tried to hit Nasrallah, but a senior Israeli official said it was aimed at senior Hezbollah commanders.

“I think it's too early to say… Sometimes they hide the truth when we succeed,” an Israeli official told reporters when asked if Friday's strike killed Nasrallah.

Earlier, a source close to Hezbollah told Reuters that Nasrallah was alive. Iran's Tasnim news agency also reported that he was safe. A senior Iranian security official told Reuters that Tehran was monitoring his situation.

The Israeli military said in a statement that it had killed the commander of Hezbollah's missile division, Muhammad Ali Ismail, and his deputy, Hossein Ahmed Ismail.

Israel's attack on Lebanon has expanded to new areas this week. On Saturday, airstrikes hit the Lebanese mountain town of Bhamdoun, southeast of Beirut, Lebanese local attorney Mark Daou told Reuters.

The mayor of Bhamdoun, Walid Khayrallah, told Reuters that the strike hit many people and did not injure anyone.

THE DEATH RATE IS RISING

Hours before the latest conflict, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the United Nations that his country had the right to continue the campaign.

“As long as Hezbollah chooses the path of war, Israel has no choice, and Israel has every right to remove this threat and return our citizens to their homes safely,” he said.

Many delegates left when Netanyahu approached the lecture hall. He later cut short his trip to New York to return to Israel.

Lebanon's health authorities confirmed that six people were killed and 91 wounded in the first attack on Friday – the fourth in southern Beirut controlled by Hezbollah in less than a week and the worst since the 2006 war.

The value of the currency seems likely to rise significantly. There was no word on the casualties from the recent strikes. More than 700 people died in strikes last week, authorities said.

Hezbollah's al-Manar television reported that seven buildings were destroyed.

Hours later, the Israeli army told residents in parts of southern Beirut to evacuate as it targeted rocket launchers and weapons caches it said were under houses.

Hezbollah denied that weapons or weapons storage facilities were found in the buildings hit in the Beirut area, the group's press office said in a statement.

Alaa al-Din Saeed, a local Israeli resident identified as the target, told Reuters he was fleeing with his wife and three children.

“We found out on television. There was a sensation in the neighborhood,” he said. The family confiscated clothes, identity documents and some money but they got stuck in the traffic while others tried to escape.

“We're going to the mountains. We'll see how we sleep – and tomorrow we'll see what we can do.”

Nearly 100,000 people in Lebanon have been displaced this week, bringing the total number displaced from the country to more than 200,000.

The Israeli government has said that returning some 70,000 Israeli refugees to their homes is an objective of the war.

AFRAID THE FIGHT WILL LEAVE

Hezbollah fired hundreds of rockets and missiles against targets in Israel, including Tel Aviv. The group says it fired rockets on Friday at the northern Israeli city of Safed, where a woman was treated for minor injuries.

Israel's air defense systems have ensured that damage has been minimal so far.

Iran, which said Friday's attack crossed “red lines”, accused Israel of using US-made bombs.

At the UN, where the annual General Assembly met this week, the intensification drew expressions of concern including France, where the US proposed a 21-day moratorium.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a New York press conference: “We believe the way forward is dialogue, not conflict… We will continue to work deliberately with all parties to urge them to choose that path.”

Hezbollah launched the latest war in the decades-long conflict with rocket fire against Israel immediately after Israel's October 7 attack by the Palestinian terror group Hamas in Gaza last year.