Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a neighborhood in Beirut’s southern suburb early on September 28, 2024.
Fadel Itani | Afp | Getty Images
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday commended the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and said his death would not be enough to end the proliferating conflict in the Middle East.
“We have some great achievements, but we haven’t completed the task at hand yet,” Netanyahu said, according to a translation by NBC News. “The devastating blows leveled at Hezbollah by the IDF will not be enough.”
Hezbollah confirmed that Nasrallah was killed on Friday in an Israeli airstrike in the Lebanese capital of Beirut.
“There is no place in Iran, nor in the Middle East, where the long arm of Israel cannot reach,” Netanyahu said.
A statement from Hezbollah also on Saturday said Nasrallah “has joined his great immortal martyr comrades.” The confirmation came just a few hours after the Israeli army announced the killing of Nasrallah, after carrying out a large-scale attack on Lebanon the day before.
Israel’s Defense Forces (IDF) said Nasrallah, who led the Iran-backed militant group for more than three decades, was killed on Friday as fighter jets conducted what it described as a “targeted strike” on Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut.
Among other Hezbollah commanders, the IDF said Ali Karki, the commander of Hezbollah’s southern front, was also killed in the strike.
Smoke rises as damage occurred in the surrounding buildings as a boy is seen on the wreckage following Israeli warplanes targeted the Dahiyeh area in Beirut, Lebanon on September 28, 2024.
Houssam Shbaro | Anadolu | Getty Images
The announcement marks what would be considered a monumental blow to Hezbollah after several months of conflict. The IDF said Nasrallah was the group’s “central decision-maker” and “strategic leader.”
Lebanese political analyst Ronnie Chatah said Saturday that the Hezbollah that had been able to wield power with absolute authority, grow to stand as the world’s largest paramilitary force and become the world’s most sophisticated terrorist organization, was now over.
“I think the symbolism cannot be overstated. This is, by far, the deepest psychological blow to this organization since its inception. Hezbollah cannot be the same without Hassan Nasrallah,” he said, speaking before Hezbollah’s confirmation of the death.
Chatah said what emerges in the coming months and years will be “something else,” an organization that will remain intact, “albeit much smaller.”
President Joe Biden on Saturday called Nasrallah’s death from Israel’s airstrike “a measure of justice for his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis, and Lebanese civilians.”
In the White House statement, Biden also doubled down on support for Israel and his ongoing calls for a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza. He also reiterated his hope to deescalate the conflict in the Middle East, which is teetering on the…
Read More: Netanyahu on Israeli killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah
