Air strikes leveled the main headquarters of Hezbollah in the Dahiyeh neighborhood of Beirut.
Massive explosions rocked Beirut this morning in what has been confirmed as an Israeli airstrike on Hezbollah’s central command in Beirut. The command bunker was buried deep underground below multiple residential apartment buildings. All that remains now are deep holes in the ground and rubble.
A high-ranking Israeli official told the Jerusalem Post that the strike did target Hezbollah leader and that it was “hard to believe he [Nasrallah] got out of it alive.” Iranian officials and chatter on networks used by Hezbollah originally claimed Nasrallah was alive, but Iran retracted their statement. No official statement on the status of Nasrallah has been made by a high-ranking official with Hezbollah.
The strikes are the latest assault on Hezbollah by the Israel Defense Force.
Earlier this month a Hezbollah security breach saw thousands of pagers detonate across Lebanon, killing nine people and wounding nearly 3,000 others. Shortly after that, another security breach detonated Hezbollah-operated walkie-talkies. Among the two operations, largely credited to the Israelis, 1,500 Hezbollah fighters were taken out of action.
If Nasrallah has been killed, the entire military chain of command for Hezbollah will have been wiped out within a matter of weeks. Hezbollah may have upwards of 100,000 fighters in its ranks, but with no command structure that force will struggle to function.
With Hezbollah scrambling and their communications compromised, hostilities in the area are likely to continue. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to strike Hezbollah “with full force” and won’t stop until its goals are achieved. Iran, of which Hezbollah is a proxy, has ordered the forces of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to a ‘high state of readiness’ and has vowed retaliation if Nasrallah has been killed.
America and its allies are acting as if hostilities in the region will continue. The U.S. has ordered troops stationed across Iraq to move to a high state of alert, and American ships stationed in the Red Sea have participated in shooting down missile barrages as recently as this morning. The British Consulate has ordered all British citizens to leave Lebanon immediately and is working to secure additional seats on planes leaving the country.
