'Settling the account': IDF kills Nasrallah in heart of Beirut

F-15I aircraft from the 69th fighter squadron at 6:20 p.m. on Friday night dropped close to 100 bombs on Hezbollah’s underground headquarters in the heart of Beirut, killing the terror group’s chief of 32 years, Hassan Nasrallah, and potentially reordering the region.

Nasrallah was killed, alongside other Hezbollah commanders including Ali Karaki, Hezbollah’s new military chief designate and current commander of the southern front, whom the IDF has just missed killing last week.

The attack involved a decade of intelligence collected both by the IDF and the Mossad as well as a variety of last-minute deceptions to ensure that Nasrallah would not flee the area. 

It also involved GBU-31 bunker buster bombs in order to drive down deep enough under the large residential building in Beirut where the headquarters was hidden.

IDF Brig.-Gen. Amichai Levine, the newly appointed commander of the IAF’s Hatzerim Airbase, said that a large number of aircraft dropped additional bombs one after the other every few seconds to ensure there was no way Nasrallah could survive

Ironically, Levine also added that it was his birthday and that taking out Nasrallah was an unusually good birthday present.

US President Joe Biden on Saturday called Israel’s killing of Nasrallah “a measure of justice” for his many victims, and said the United States fully supported Israel’s right to defend itself against Iran-supported groups.

Biden said he had directed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to further enhance the defense posture of US military forces in the Middle East to deter aggression and reduce the risk of a broader war.

Ultimately, he said, the US aimed to de-escalate ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon through diplomatic means. He did not address a comment from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei saying Nasrallah’s death would be avenged.

'An historical turning point'

On Saturday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the killing of Nasrallah was an historical turning point that could change the balance of power in the Middle East, though he warned of “challenging days” ahead.

“Nasrallah was not a terrorist, he was the terrorist,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “Nasrallah’s killing was a necessary step toward achieving the goals we have set, returning residents of the North safely to their homes and changing the balance of power in the region for years to come,” he said.

Soon after arriving in Israel from New York, Netanyahu said Israel has “settled the account” with a “mass murderer” responsible for the killings of countless Israelis and dozens of American and French citizens.

He added that, early last week, he recognized that even the heavy strikes Israel had inflicted on Hezbollah would not be sufficient, and that “eliminating Nasrallah was an essential condition for achieving the aims that we have set out — returning the residents of the North safely to their homes and changing the balance of power in the region for years.”

“So I gave the order and Nasrallah is no longer with us.”

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was holding talks late on Saturday on possibly expanding Israel’s military offensive on its northern front, his office said in a statement.

Israel's next steps

Despite the stunning attack by the air force and expectations that Hezbollah might finally fire its full arsenal of likely still over 100,000 rockets on Israel (out of more than 150,000 prewar), the terror organization had only fired 90 rockets on the Jewish state following Nasrallah’s death as of press time.

Accordingly, little had changed regarding Israeli home front restrictions.

There remain heavy restrictions on Haifa and areas northward, which have been in place since last weekend, but central Israel was only given a restriction from having outdoor gatherings of more than 1,000 – meaning schools and workplaces continue to operate normally.

In the broader sense, the IDF said that it believed the death of Nasrallah could: 1) potentially bring Hezbollah to a ceasefire that would make the northern border sufficiently secure for Israel’s 60,000 residents who have been evacuated from there; 2) bring Hamas back to the negotiating table to exchange Israeli hostages; and 3) deter Iran from some of its broader adventurism against Israel.

At the same time that the IDF killed Nasrallah, it kept up heavy attacks on Hezbollah’s rocket network and assets throughout Saturday, including killing a top Hezbollah intelligence official.

Further, the IDF has continually bombed the Syrian-Lebanese border to prevent new arms from arriving to Hezbollah from Iran by land and intercepted an Iranian aircraft that was on its way to Lebanon likely to bring arms, forcing the aircraft to turn back while in Iraqi airspace.

“This is not the end of our toolbox,” IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi said in a statement following the announcement of Nasrallah’s death.

“Those who threaten the citizens of the State of Israel – we will know how to reach them – in the North, in the South, and even in more distant places,” Halevi said.

“After a long period of preparing many capabilities for Lebanon, we have begun implementing them. This strike had also been prepared for a long time and executed at the right time, precisely,” he said.

“We are now moving forward with sharp preparation for the next steps. Ultimately, I emphasize again that we are maintaining maximum readiness across all of our sectors. All forces, including coordination with other organizations, must be well coordinated and highly prepared,” the chief of staff concluded.

Hezbollah confirms leader's death

Lebanon’s Hezbollah confirmed on Saturday that its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had been killed.

The group said in a statement that it would continue its battle against Israel “in support of Gaza and Palestine, and in defense of Lebanon and its steadfast and honorable people.”

Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV started airing Quran verses after the announcement of Nasrallah’s death.

The underground command center was embedded beneath a residential building, the IDF noted in its report on Saturday, where Nasrallah and his top commanders were coordinating terrorist activities against Israel at the time of the attack.

During Nasrallah’s 32-year leadership of Hezbollah, he was responsible for directing nearly all of the group’s major terror operations and strategy, including attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers, as well as international attacks that killed other nationals worldwide.

Under his command, Hezbollah joined Hamas in attacking Israel with rockets on October 8, 2023, further escalating violence in the region.

Nasrallah had ordered thousands upon thousands of attacks on Israel in recent year with rockets, anti-tank missiles, and drones.

His daughter Zainab was reportedly killed in the same Israeli airstrike targeting Hezbollah strongholds in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday.

Nasrallah began his political journey in 1976 at the age of 16 when he traveled to Iraq and joined the Shia movement, the Dawa Party. In 1982, he co-founded Hezbollah with Iranian support after leaving the Amal Movement, quickly securing a senior position and overseeing the Bekaa area by age 22.

By 1985, he was deputy chairman of the Beirut Council and became the military leader in the city. In 1987, he was appointed head of the Operational Executive Council and became a member of Hezbollah’s Supreme Council.

Following the IDF’s assassination of Abbas al-Musawi, Nasrallah assumed leadership of Hezbollah in 1992.

Ali Karaki had commanded Hezbollah’s Southern Front since 2007, overseeing the group’s military activities in southern Lebanon. He was responsible for building extensive weapon stockpiles and deploying thousands of operatives along the Israeli border. He was due to replace Fuad Shukr, whom Israel killed on July 30, as Hezbollah’s military chief, second only to Nasrallah.

Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas War, Karaki had directed rocket launches, anti-tank missile attacks, and UAV strikes, resulting in significant damage among Israeli civilians and soldiers, and causing extensive damage in northern Israel.His strategy involved embedding Hezbollah within civilian areas, utilizing homes and the local population as human shields in their assaults on Israel. A founding member of Hezbollah’s military operations in the 1980s, he had a history of orchestrating numerous terror attacks against Israelis.

At press time, Hezbollah had not yet selected a replacement for Nasrallah, but reports were rampant predicting Hashem Safieddine as his heir.

As head of the executive council, Safieddine oversees Hezbollah’s political affairs. He also sits on the Jihad Council, which manages the group’s military operations.

Safieddine is a cousin of Nasrallah and, like him, a cleric who wears a black turban denoting descent from Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.

The US State Department designated him a terrorist in 2017, and in June, he threatened a big escalation against Israel after the killing of another Hezbollah commander. “Let [the enemy] prepare himself to cry and wail,” he said at the funeral.

Safieddine’s public statements often reflect Hezbollah’s militant stance and its alignment with the Palestinian cause.At a recent event in Dahiyeh, Hezbollah’s stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs, he declared, “Our history, our guns, and our rockets are with you,” in a show of solidarity with Palestinian fighters.

Nasrallah “started tailoring positions for him within a variety of different councils within Lebanese Hezbollah. Some of them were more opaque than others. They’ve had him come, go out, and speak,” said Phillip Smyth, an expert who studies Iran-backed Shi’ite militias.

Safieddine’s family ties, physical resemblance to Nasrallah, and religious status as a descendant of Muhammad would all count in his favor.

He has also been vocal in his criticism of US policy. In response to American pressure on Hezbollah, he stated in 2017 that “This mentally impeded, crazy US administration headed by [then-president Donald] Trump will not be able to harm the resistance,” asserting that such actions would only strengthen Hezbollah’s resolve.

In the same attack that killed Nasrallah, Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps deputy commander Abbas Nilforoushan was also killed, Iranian media reported on Saturday.

Nilforoushan was a key player in Iranian actions in the region, advising Hezbollah on military and diplomatic affairs, according to Khabar Online.

He is believed to have played a major role in crushing protests against the Iranian regime and fought with the Assad regime during the Syrian Civil War.

Nilforoushan had previously hinted at attacks on Israel, according to Iran International.

The IRGC official told Etemad Online in February that Tehran was keeping track of the “enemies’” activities and would “settle scores” on a regular basis with them.

Top Israeli defense sources refused to tell The Jerusalem Post whether they knew he was present and whether his presence there was a factor for or against killing Nasrallah specifically on Friday.

At press time, Iran was alternately threatening retaliation, invoking a five-day mourning period, and continuing to refrain from directly attacking Israel despite nearly two weeks of the IDF pummeling Hezbollah and the Islamic Republic losing one of its greatest allies.