Hezbollah confirms its leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon's Hezbollah group confirmed on Saturday that its leader and one of its founders, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut the previous day.

A statement said Nasrallah "has joined his fellow martyrs." Hezbollah vowed to "continue the holy war against the enemy and in support of Palestine."

Nasrallah, who led Hezbollah for more than three decades, is by far the most powerful target to be killed by Israel in weeks of intensified fighting with Hezbollah. The Israeli military said it carried out a precise airstrike on Friday while Hezbollah leaders were meeting at their headquarters in Dahiyeh, south of Beirut.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said six people were killed and 91 injured in the strikes, which levelled six apartment buildings. Ali Karki, the commander of Hezbollah's Southern Front and other commanders were also killed, the Israeli military said.

Iran announced Saturday that a prominent general in its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard sanctioned by the US died in the same airstrike. Abbas Nilforushan, 58, who the US identified as the deputy commander for operations in the Guard, was killed Friday, Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported.

The recent strikes in Lebanon and the assassination of Nasrallah are a significant escalation in the war in the Middle East, this time between Israel and Hezbollah.

Air raid sirens sounded across central Israel on Saturday afternoon, including at the Tel Aviv international airport, shortly after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed after a trip to the US
The Israeli military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen. It was not immediately known if the missile strike was aimed at Netanyahu's flight.

Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli army spokesperson, said the airstrike Friday in Beirut was based on years of tracking Nasrallah along with "real time information." He declined to say what munitions were used or provide an estimate on civilian deaths. He said Israel takes measures to avoid civilians whenever possible.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas in a statement issued condolences to its ally, Hezbollah. Nasrallah frequently described launching rockets against northern Israel as a "support front" for Hamas and Palestinians in Gaza.

It said "assassinations will only increase the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine in determination and resolve."

Immediately after the confirmation from Hezbollah, people starting firing in the air in Beirut and across Lebanon to mourn Nasrallah's death.

"Wish it was our kids, not you, Sayyid!" said one woman, using an honorific title for Nasrallah, as she clutched her baby in the western city of Baabda.

News of Nasrallah's killing stunned travellers at Lebanon's only international airport, where hundreds of people were scrambling to leave the country despite limited flights. Some cried. Others talked on their phones in disbelief. One woman screamed: "No! It was just an announcement! No, he didn't die!"

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Tehran after Nasrallah's killing was announced. Protesters chanted "Death to Israel" and "Death to Netanyahu the murderer" while waving Hezbollah flags.

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