Hezbollah confirms leader Hassan Nasrallah is dead

Television footage from Beirut on Saturday morning showed plumes of smoke billowing from damaged buildings.

Israel has increasingly targeted top Hezbollah officials and operatives in recent weeks in strikes that have killed hundreds of people.

Hezbollah members were also targeted by a covert operation that involved detonating electronic communications devices. The sophisticated attack was attributed to Israel, though it hasn’t claimed responsibility.

Tensions between the two sides have been on the rise since October 8, the day after the Hamas attack on Israel. Hezbollah launched projectiles into Israel in what it said was a show of solidarity with Hamas and the Palestinians affected by the conflict.

Israel warns of challenging days ahead

The IDF said the attack that killed Nasrallah and some of his other top officials on Friday was part of a precision strike by Israel’s air force on Hezbollah’s central headquarters, which it said was located underground below a residential building.

In a televised press conference on Saturday, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that Israel was on peak alert and warned of challenging days ahead.

“Israel does not seek a wider escalation,” Hagari said, adding that the army was seeking to bring home hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and to ensure its borders are safe.

Israel’s government has ordered its citizens not to hold large gatherings of more than 1,000 people in the central area of the country from today amid fears of a retaliation.

In a series of posts on X, Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, condemned the Lebanon strikes and showed solidarity with Hezbollah.

“Lebanon will make the trangressing, malicious enemy regret its actions,” a post on Khamenei’s account reads.

Iran is a close ally of Hezbollah and has funded the group for decades. Iran’s state news agency said Saturday that Iranian Brigadier Gen. Abbas Nilforoushan also died in the Israeli strike that killed Nasrallah.

A spokesperson for the Pentagon said on Friday it had received no forewarning of Israel’s operation in the Lebanese capital this weekend. The US and allies — including the United Kingdom, France, and Germany — issued a joint statement earlier this week calling for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Lebanon-Israel border.

Hezbollah is a US-designated foreign terrorist organization with fighters numbering between 40,000 and 50,000, according to the Congressional Research Service. The group also has close relationships with the government of Syria and Houthi militants in Yemen.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for further updates.