The Israeli military has struck Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut in a series of massive explosions that targeted the leader of the militant group and levelled multiple high-rise apartment buildings.
The biggest blast to hit the Lebanese capital in the past year appeared likely to push the escalating conflict closer to full-fledged war, and at least six people were killed and 91 were wounded, Lebanon’s health ministry said.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was the target of the strikes on the group’s headquarters, according to two sources, including one US official.
The Israeli army declined to comment on who it was targeting. It was not immediately clear if Mr Nasrallah was at the site and Hezbollah did not comment on the report.
The toll is likely to rise significantly as teams are still combing through the rubble of six buildings.
After the strikes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly cut short a visit to the US to return home. Hours earlier, he addressed the UN, vowing that Israel’s intensified campaign against Hezbollah over the past two weeks would continue, further dimming hopes for an internationally backed ceasefire.
News of the blasts came as Mr Netanyahu was briefing reporters after his UN address. A military aide whispered into his ear, and he quickly ended the briefing.
Israeli army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the strikes targeted the main Hezbollah headquarters, saying it was located underground beneath residential buildings.
The series of blasts at around nightfall reduced six apartment towers to rubble in Haret Hreik, a densely populated district of Beirut’s Dahiyeh suburbs, according to Lebanon’s national news agency.
A wall of billowing black and orange smoke rose into the sky as windows were rattled and houses shaken 18 miles north of Beirut.
Footage showed rescue workers clambering over large slabs of concrete, surrounded by high piles of twisted metal and wreckage. Several craters were visible, one with a car toppled into it. A stream of residents carrying their belongings were seen fleeing along a main road out of the district.
Israel’s air forces followed with a new set of strikes early on Saturday shortly after an Israeli military spokesman warned residents of several buildings to evacuate, saying they were being used by the militant Hezbollah group.
An attempt to assassinate Mr Nasrallah – successful or not – would be a major escalation. The Pentagon said the US had no advance warning of the strikes.
He has been in hiding for years, rarely appearing in public. He regularly gives speeches, but always by video from unknown locations.
The site hit on Friday evening had not been publicly known as Hezbollah’s main headquarters, though it is located in the group’s “security quarters”, a heavily guarded part of Haret Hreik where it has offices and runs several hospitals.
Four hours after the strike, Hezbollah had still not issued any statement referring to it. Instead, it announced that it had launched a salvo of rockets at the Israeli city of Safed “in defence of Lebanon and its people, and in response to the barbaric Israeli violation of cities, villages and civilians”.
The Israeli military said a house and a car in Safed were hit, without providing details.
The Israeli army later warned residents to evacuate three buildings in other southern Beirut neighbourhoods, saying it was about to strike them because Hezbollah was using them to hide weapons.
Israel dramatically intensified its air strikes in Lebanon this week, saying it is determined to put an end to more than 11 months of Hezbollah fire into its territory. The escalated campaign has killed more than 720 people in Lebanon, including dozens of women and children, according to Health Ministry statistics.
A pre-dawn strike on Friday in the border town of Chebaa killed nine members of the same family, the state news agency said.
Israel Defence Forces said its air forces killed Hezbollah missile unit commander Muhammad Ali Ismail, who it said was responsible for directing “numerous terror attacks” against Israel, and his deputy Hussein Ahmad Ismail during an attack in southern Lebanon on Tuesday.
There was no immediate confirmation from Hezbollah.
The scope of Israel’s operation remains unclear, but officials have said a ground invasion to push the militant group away from the border is a possibility. Israel has moved thousands of troops towards the border in preparation.
At the UN, Mr Netanyahu vowed to “continue degrading Hezbollah” until Israel achieves its goals. His comments dampened hopes for a US-backed call for a 21-day truce between Israel and Hezbollah to allow time for a diplomatic solution. Hezbollah has not responded to the proposal.
Iranian-backed Hezbollah, the strongest armed force in Lebanon, began firing rockets into Israel almost immediately after Hamas’s October 7 attack last year, saying it was a show of support for the Palestinians.
Since then, it and the Israeli military have traded fire almost daily, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes on both sides of the border.
An Israeli security official said he expects the campaign against Hezbollah would not last for as long as the current war in Gaza, because the military’s goals are much narrower.
In Gaza, Israel aims to dismantle Hamas’s military and political regime, but the goal in Lebanon is to push Hezbollah away from the border – “not a high bar like Gaza” in terms of operational objectives, said the official.
The Israeli military said it carried out dozens of strikes around the south on Friday, targeting Hezbollah rocket launchers and infrastructure. It said Hezbollah fired a volley of rockets towards the northern Israeli city of Tiberias.
