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Israel said on Friday it had carried out an attack on Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut.
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The attack reportedly targeted the military group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
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His fate is currently unknown.
The Israeli army announced that it carried out a “precise attack” in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Friday, targeting the central headquarters of the militant group Hezbollah.
The massive airstrikes, which destroyed several high-rise buildings and caused dozens of casualties, targeted Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader for more than three decades, according to multiple reports, citing both Israeli and US officials. The strike raises questions about his fate.
It is unclear whether Nasrallah was at the scene, but a former senior Israeli official told CNN that Israel had a “very high degree of certainty” that he was there given the strength of the attack.
If so, it is unclear whether he survived. Some Israeli media reports report growing confidence among officials that he was killed. A source close to Hezbollah told Reuters that the militant group’s senior leadership was unreachable.
If Nasrallah were to be eliminated in the attack, it would be a major blow to the Iran-backed group. Israel has increasingly targeted Hezbollah’s top officials and operatives in recent week, but killing its leader would be a significant and dramatic escalation.
Vice Admiral Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the Israeli army, said the headquarters hit on Friday were among residential buildings in Dahieh, a suburb of Beirut. He called the facility “the epicenter of Hezbollah’s terror.”
Video footage of the strikes showed explosions and smoke pouring from a residential area. Photos of the aftermath revealed massive destruction, with several buildings completely reduced to rubble. Local authorities said at least two people were dead and dozens of others were injured. It is likely that these figures will increase.
A Pentagon spokesman said the US had received no advance warning before the attacks. However, she said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart while the operation was underway.
Israel has not publicly acknowledged that it specifically targeted Nasrallah, nor has it commented on his status.
Hours after the earlier attacks on Hezbollah’s headquarters, the Israeli army said it was carrying out additional attacks on Hezbollah’s weapons storage facilities in Beirut.
“Over the past hour, IAF fighter jets struck dozens of Hezbollah launch sites targeting Israeli civilians, as well as buildings storing weapons in several areas in southern Lebanon,” the Israeli military said shortly after 1 a.m. local time.
Israel and Hezbollah have traded cross-border attacks almost daily for the past year, but fighting between the two bitter enemies has escalated sharply in the past week following Israel’s widespread pager and walkie-talkie attacks.
The Israeli army appears to be preparing for a possible ground invasion of Lebanon, leading to fears that the country could end up in an all-out war against Hezbollah. US officials have expressed concern about a wider confrontation between the two.
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