Israel says it targeted Hassan Nasrallah in strike on Hezbollah's central headquarters

Conflicting reports about the group's leader after bombardment of southern Beirut

A crowd gathers in the aftermath of an Israeli air strike on the southern Beirut neighbourhood of Dahieh. EPA

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Israel on Friday struck what it said was Hezbollah's central headquarters in Beirut's southern suburbs, targeting the group's leader Hassan Nasrallah, shortly after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue attacks on Lebanon.

“A short while ago, the IDF [Israeli military] conducted a precise strike on the central headquarters of the Hezbollah terror organisation, embedded under residential buildings in the heart of the Dahieh in Beirut,” the Israeli army said.

Israeli TV networks reported that the Hezbollah leader was the target of the strike. It was one of the biggest raids to hit the southern area of the Lebanese capital with at least 15 explosions heard in quick succession throughout the capital.

Mr Nasrallah's fate was not immediately known. Several Israeli outlets reported he had been killed in the strike, but Hezbollah insisted such reporting is false. A Hezbollah source denied the claims, telling The National that Mr Nasrallah was safe.

“There is no truth to any statement or declaration made regarding the Zionist terrorist attack on the Haret Hreik area in the southern suburbs, and anything published will be exclusively from the media relations office,” the source said.

Reuters quoted witnesses who reported a second wave of strikes in the southern suburb of Beirut, hours after the first.

At least six people were killed and 91 were wounded in the initial strike, according to a preliminary assessment from Lebanon's Ministry of Health. The death toll is likely to rise as search efforts continue.

Hezbollah has yet to release an official statement regarding their leader's status, but it has denied that any weapons or arms depots were located in buildings that were hit by the Israeli attack.

AFP and Reuters reported that the Hezbollah chief was alive after the Israeli attack. “Sayyed Nasrallah is fine,” a source said.

Late on Friday night, the Israeli army conducted more strikes on Dahieh, after having called on residents of Beirut's southern suburbs to exit areas “located near Hezbollah interests” in an attempt to force civilians to leave their homes.

Hundreds of escaping Dahieh residents gathered in Beirut’s Tayyouneh square, following the announcement. Entire families sat on the pavement of the busy thoroughfare with their belongings piled up inside and on the roof of their cars.

Layla, who has two children, walked hurriedly across the square to meet her brother’s family in the park nearby where she planned to spend the night.

“School shelters are not safe,” she said. “I’m afraid Israel will do like it does in Gaza and start hitting the schools. It’s going to be a long night. After this, I don’t know where we’ll go.”

'Target Nasrallah?'

Lebanon's National News Agency reported a series of “violent” strikes by Israeli warplanes on the southern Beirut suburb of Dahieh around 6.30pm. Explosions were heard across the Lebanese capital, with smoke billowing over southern suburbs. Local media reported that at least 10 missiles struck the area.

The bombardment left craters where buildings had once stood. Civil defence teams worked to put out fires on the ground before commencing with the search and rescue process.

Nearly every television seen through balconies and windows was set on news channels sharing images of the strike or the Hezbollah leader. People in cars leaned across their seats to yell for news into the vehicles of other motorists.

Drivers shouted: “Is it true they targeted Nasrallah?” A woman wiped tears away as she scrolled through her phone in the passenger seat of a car.

“There are several buildings destroyed completely. Many surrounding buildings were affected, too. Casualties are not known until now, but we could easily expect, hundreds of people killed and injured,” a resident said.

Videos shared on social media showed scenes of chaos at the site of the strike, with several buildings flattened. A source close to Hezbollah told AFP that six buildings have been destroyed in the strike on Dahieh.

The strikes came soon after Mr Netanyahu vowed to continue targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon in his speech at the UN General Assembly in New York, dampening hopes of a 21-day truce proposed by France and the US this week.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday said the Pentagon had no involvement in the Beirut strike and called for a diplomatic end to the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. He said he spoke to his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant while the strike targeting Hassan Nasrallah was under way.

“The United States was not involved in Israel’s operation. We had no advance warning,” Mr Austin said. “You’ve heard me say a number of times, an all-out war should be avoided. Diplomacy continues to be the best way forward – and it’s the fastest way to let displaced Israeli and Lebanese citizens return to their homes on both sides of the border.”

On Friday evening, Hezbollah claimed responsibility for four attacks on northern Israel, claiming them to be “in defence of Lebanon and its people, and in response to the barbaric Israeli violations of cities.” Videos showed a direct hit, with a fire breaking out in a house, seemingly after the barrage.

Earlier on Friday, Mr Netanyahu said Israeli officials have met to discuss US proposals for a ceasefire in Lebanon and will continue talks in the coming days – just a day after his office and senior Israeli politicians rejected the prospect of a truce and vowed to press on with the offensive.

“This is an American-French proposal to which the Prime Minister did not even respond,” Mr Netanyahu's office said on Thursday, rejecting reports he had instructed the army to “tone down” attacks on Lebanon.

The statement came hours after Israel's army chief Lt Gen Herzi Halevi told troops to prepare for a possible ground invasion of Lebanon, where more than 700 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since Monday.