Bombs on Beirut

Israel continues bombardment of Beirut

An Iraqi wears a pin with the Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah at the funeral of a military commander of the Iraqi Hezbollah brigades in Baghdad.

(Bild: APA/AFP/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE)

The Lebanese Hezbollah has confirmed the death of its Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah. Nasrallah had switched to the "side of his Lord" and joined his "great and immortal martyrs", the pro-Iranian Shia militia announced on Telegram.

"Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorize the world", the Israeli military had previously made public. This was later confirmed by France. "According to the information we have, the Secretary General of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, would indeed be dead," the French Foreign Ministry declared on Saturday. They are in contact with regional partners in Lebanon in order to avoid an escalation.

According to Israel, it had carried out an airstrike on the headquarters of the Iranian-backed militia in Beirut the previous day. It is said to have been located under residential buildings.

Israeli attacks on the southern suburbs of Beirut.

(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Israel's heaviest blow against Hezbollah in decades
The death of Nasrallah, who had led the organization for 30 years, is Israel's heaviest blow against Hezbollah and thus one of its greatest enemies for decades. The consequences of this for the conflict with Israel, for the Middle East region and in Lebanon itself can hardly be foreseen at present. Nasrallah has been at the head of the Shia militia since 1992. He was one of Israel's most difficult opponents. He coordinated closely with Iran and its Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), Hezbollah's most important supporter. He transformed the militia into a much more powerful and dangerous organization than it was during the time of his predecessor.

An Iraqi man wears a pin with Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah at the funeral of a military commander of the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades in Baghdad.

(Bild: APA/AFP/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE)

The Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah

(Bild: APA Pool/AFP/Al-Manar)

Beirut's southern suburbs resemble "hell"
Hundreds of people in Beirut fled from Israel's attacks in the southern suburbs to the center of the capital. The shock was written all over people's faces. Frightened families waited on the streets everywhere with tears in their eyes, as a reporter in Beirut described. People who fled to the city center from the southern suburbs, where Hezbollah is particularly strong, spoke of a "hell". They sought shelter in parks, on the street and on public beaches in the sultry night. One woman said she had fled barefoot. According to eyewitnesses, an eerie calm prevailed in the early morning. One resident of the capital spoke of a "nightmare".

Hundreds feared dead
Local television stations showed night-time explosions south of Beirut near the international airport. Fires and secondary explosions could be seen. Meanwhile, rescuers continued to search for survivors of Friday's massive airstrike, which destroyed several buildings in the densely populated suburb of Haret Hreik, according to Lebanon's state news agency NNA. There could be dozens or even hundreds of casualties.

The war in Lebanon could lead to a further escalation with the involvement of external powers.

UN-Generalsekretär António Guterres

Bild: AFP

Guterres warns against escalation of the war
UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned urgently against an escalation of the conflict. "The war in Lebanon could lead to a further escalation with the involvement of external powers," he said at a UN Security Council meeting in New York. "We must avoid a regional war at all costs." According to the UN, tens of thousands of people have already fled to Syria since the start of the heavy Israeli attacks in Lebanon. Meanwhile, Israel's army reported further air strikes on "terrorist targets" in Beirut belonging to Hezbollah during the night. No details were given in the announcement.

The residents are stunned.

(Bild: APA/AFP/ANWAR AMRO)

Israel's army had announced further attacks in the area of the Lebanese capital during the night. It said that weapons production facilities, buildings in which modern weapons were stored and command centers of the pro-Iranian militia had been attacked. According to Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari, rockets were stored under civilian residential buildings, which also posed a threat to international shipping and strategic facilities in Israel. The Israeli army had previously called on the residents of the attacked area to evacuate.

The devastation in the Haret Hreik neighborhood in the southern suburbs of Beirut

(Bild: APA/AFP/ANWAR AMRO)

(Bild: APA/AFP/ANWAR AMRO)

Hezbollah rejected the Israeli army's claim that it had attacked the militia's weapons depots. There were no weapons or depots in the attacked buildings.

Meanwhile, Israel's military said it had again attacked Hezbollah militia positions in the south of Lebanon. Following shelling from Lebanon, the air force bombed the launching device, the army announced during the night. At least three shells had previously been fired at Israel from there, most of which had been intercepted. Other Shia militia positions in southern Lebanon were also attacked, including buildings in which Hezbollah had stored weapons.

Attack on Hezbollah headquarters
The attack on the Hezbollah headquarters reported by Israel was the "most aggressive step" taken by Israel in the past two weeks, with sophisticated intelligence operations, targeted killings and heavy bombing, wrote the Wall Street Journal. The militia is to be prevented from crossing the border into Israel. So far, the attacks in Beirut have been "targeted killings" of Hezbollah commanders, wrote the Times of Israel. However, the latest attacks were more extensive and aimed to destroy infrastructure and high-ranking individuals.