leader of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah, who led the terrorist group for more than 30 years, was killed in an Israeli airstrike.
Nasrallah, 64, was killed in massive airstrike Friday at the Iran-backed group’s “central headquarters” in Beirut, Lebanon, the Israeli military said in a statement.
Hezbollah confirmed Nasrallah’s death, saying its longtime leader “joined his fellow martyrs.” Two US officials also confirmed his death to CBS News.
The strike also killed Ali Karki, the commander of Hezbollah’s southern front, and other Hezbollah leaders, the Israeli military said. The leaders were in a command center “integrated under a residential building,” the Israeli army said. An Israeli military official said real-time intelligence about an operational opportunity allowed them to lead the strike.
The afternoon strike was part of a series of large explosions targeting leaders of the militant group, which fired rockets and drones across Lebanon’s southern border into Israel for nearly a year, amid the war between Israel and Hamas.
Aziz Taher / REUTERS
Hassan Nasrallah’s background
Nasrallah was born in Beirut in 1960, the ninth in a family of ten Shiite children. His family was poor and lived in the poor northern suburb of Sharshabuk; his father sold vegetables. The city was then known as the “Paris of the Middle East”, but when The civil war in Lebanon broke up in 1975, the city deteriorated to the point of disaster.
Meanwhile, Nasrallah’s family fled Beirut. He joined a Shiite militia called the Amal Movement, which later evolved into Hezbollah, meaning “Party of God.” The group has been supported by Iran since its creation, according to Israeli and U.S. officials, with Iran training fighters and sending hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
Nasrallah studied for a time in Iran, then returned to the group and became secretary general of Hezbollah after Israel assassinated its predecessorAbbas al-Musawi, during a helicopter strike in 1992.
He bore the title of “sayyid”, an honorary title intended for the lineage of the Shiite cleric dating back to the Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam, according to AFP.
Hezbollah under the leadership of Hasrallah
Under Nasrallah’s fiery and charismatic leadership, Hezbollah crystallized its threats to destroy Israel and the American presence in Lebanon. Washington declared the organization a terrorist group in October 1997, five years after Nasrallah took control.
Supporters viewed Nasrallah as a charismatic and shrewd strategist who strengthened ties with Iranian leaders and militant groups like Hamas, AFP reported, while the West and some oil-rich Gulf Arab countries viewed him as a extremist.
The group’s military wing was linked to the bombings of two US embassies in the 1980s, which caused numerous casualties. The bombings killed more than 80 people and injured hundreds more. Hezbollah has also been linked to hijackings, kidnappings, suicide bombings and espionage around the world.
Nasrallah was credited with leading the war of attrition that led to the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon in 2000, after 18 years of occupation, AFP reported. He also led Hezbollah’s 34-day war against Israel in 2006.
Nasrallah also heavily involved the group in the brutal conflict in neighboring Syria in 2011. Hezbollah fighters sided with Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces, even as the rest of the Arab world ostracized him, reported AFP. Hezbollah and other key allies like Russia and Iran have helped Assad stay in power and retake territories lost earlier in the conflict.
Hezbollah also grew politically under Nasrallah’s leadership. After the end of Lebanon’s civil war in 1990, Nasrallah gradually transformed the organization into a “state within a state”, according to the AFP, with an elaborate social welfare network that provided schools, clinics and housing for poor and predominantly Shiite populations. parts of Lebanon. Hezbollah continued to grow throughout the country, eventually gaining elected seats in the national parliament.
Nasrallah’s death leaves a leadership vacuum within the Middle East’s most powerful paramilitary force.
Nasrallah feared being assassinated
Nasrallah’s public appearances became rarer, even as Hezbollah’s visibility grew. Fearing assassination, he chose to deliver speeches via video from secret locations. The messages were broadcast on Hezbollah’s radio and satellite television, earning it iconic status in Lebanon and the Arab world, according to AFP.
In his latest television commentson September 19, he accused Israel of having explosive attack via pager and walkie-talkie which killed dozens of Hezbollah soldiers and injured several thousand others. In his last words, he vowed that “punishment would come.”
Nasrallah is survived by his wife, Fatima Yassin, his three sons Jawad, Mohammed-Mahdi and Mohammed Ali, as well as several grandchildren, according to AFP. His eldest son, Hadi, was killed in 1997 while fighting against Israeli forces, and his daughter Zeinab was reportedly killed in the Beirut airstrike on Friday.
Margaret Brennan contributed to this report.
