Israel targets Hezbollah leader Nasrallah in strike on Beirut headquarters

The Israeli Defense Forces targeted Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a “precise strike” Friday on the central headquarters of Hezbollah in Beirut, Lebanon. 

IDF spokesperson Rear admiral Daniel Hagari said the headquarters were intentionally built in the heart of the Dahieh in Beirut under residential buildings “as part of Hezbollah’s strategy of using Lebanese people as human shields.”

At least two people were killed and dozens were wounded, Lebanon’s health ministry said.

Video and images show plumes of smoke rising over Beirut following the Israeli strikes. Witnesses say they heard multiple strikes. 

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Fox News has learned the target of the attack was Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. A Hezbollah media relations official says Nasrallah is “fine and well” and was not at the location targeted in the IDF airstrikes.

Hezbollah’s al-Manar television reported that four buildings were destroyed and there were many casualties in the multiple strikes, which marked an escalation of Israel’s conflict with the heavily armed, Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Security sources in Lebanon said the attack targeted an area where top Hezbollah officials are usually based. It was the heaviest attack in Beirut in almost a year of conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.

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“On Oct. 8, Hezbollah started attacking Israel after almost a year of Hezbollah firing rockets, missiles and suicide drones at Israeli civilians,” Hagari said.

“After almost a year of Israel warning the world and telling them that Hezbollah must be stopped, Israel is doing what every sovereign state in the world would do if they had a terror organization that seeks their destruction on their border, taking the necessary action to protect our people so that Israeli families can leave their homes safely and securely.”

Fox News has learned the target of the attack was Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, pictured in a televised speech in January. (REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir)

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Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh says the U.S. was not involved in this operation and had no advance warning.

“Minister [Yoav] Gallant spoke with Secretary Austin as the operation was already underway,” Singh said. “This operation has happened within the last few hours. We are still assessing the event.”

The Pentagon also declined to speculate on whether the Hezbollah leader was still alive.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approving the strikes on Friday from a hotel in New York. (Fox News)

A White House official says that President Biden has been briefed on the operation.

The strikes hit Beirut shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue Israel’s attacks on Iranian-backed fighters in Lebanon in a closely watched United Nations speech, as hopes faded for a cease-fire that could head off an all-out regional war.

A car sits in a huge hole at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburbs (The Associated Press)

Netanyahu will cut short his stay in the U.S. and will depart for Israel Friday, Fox News sources say. This is understood to be a rare move by an Israeli prime minister, as Shabbat is a day of rest for Jews. 

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The fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has drastically escalated over the last month as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has begun targeting the terrorist network’s hot spots and military storage units, all of which are strategically embedded within civilian villages.

Reuters contributed to this report.