September 28, (THEWILL) – Iranian-backed lebanese militia group, Hezbollah, has confirmed that its longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed after Israeli airstrikes slammed into the area housing its underground headquarters near Beirut, Lebanon, on Friday.
In a statement on Saturday, Hezbollah said Nasrallah “has joined his fellow martyrs” and vowed to “continue the holy war against the enemy and in support of Palestine”.
THEWILL earlier reported that the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) on Saturday, said that Nasrallah had been killed on Friday, as fighter jets conducted what it described as a “targeted strike” on Hezbollah’s headquarters in Lebanon’s capital of Beirut.
Israeli army spokesperson, Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, said other Hezbollah commanders, including Ali Karki, the commander of Hezbollah’s southern front, was also killed in the strike.
Nasrallah, 64, is regarded as one of the most influential figures in the Middle East and has played a key role in transforming Hezbollah into a major military and political force. He has led Hezbollah since 1992, taking the reins after Israel assassinated the group’s previous leader, Abbas al-Musawi.
Meanwhile, Iran Supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has called on all Muslims to rise against Israel, adding that Iran will stand with Hezbollah and the resistance.
“The fate of this region will be determined by the resistance with Hezbollah at the top”, Khamenei said.
Declaring five days of mourning for Nasrallah, Iran announced that all flights to Beirut are cancelled on its national carrier, Iran Air.
Lebanon’s former prime minister, Saad Hariri, condemned Israel’s killing of Nasrallah, saying it “plunges Lebanon and the region into a new phase of violence. It is a cowardly act condemned in its entirety by we who paid dearly for the lives of our loved ones when assassination became an alternative to politics.”
