Military Space News
WAR REPORT
Nasrallah's body found: source close to Hezbollah
Nasrallah's body found: source close to Hezbollah
by AFP Staff Writers
Beirut, Lebanon (AFP) Sept 29, 2024

The body of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, killed in an Israeli air strike on southern Beirut, has been recovered, a source close to the movement told AFP on Sunday.

"His body was recovered on Saturday and was placed in a shroud on Sunday after being washed," the source said, requesting anonymity.

"The funeral ceremony and his burial have not yet been arranged," the source added.

Before his death on Friday when Israeli jets attacked Hezbollah's heartland in the south of the Lebanese capital, Nasrallah was considered the most powerful man in the country.

For more than three decades he headed the Iran-backed movement that was Israel's sworn enemy.

Friday's air strike also killed Ali Karake, the group's top commander in southern Lebanon, Hezbollah said on Sunday.

It has not named others who died alongside Nasrallah and Karake.

However, Israel's military said on Sunday that "more than 20 other terrorists of varying ranks" were also killed in the attack.

The authorities in Lebanon gave a provisional toll of six dead, but given the scale of the destruction the number of dead is likely to be higher.

Beirut's southern suburbs, and south and east Lebanon have been subject to intense Israeli bombardment since Monday, with the country's health ministry reporting more than 700 people killed and hundreds of thousands displaced.

Israel says 20 Hezbollah members killed in Nasrallah strike
Beirut, Lebanon (AFP) Sept 29, 2024 - Israel's military said on Sunday its air strike on Beirut that killed Hassan Nasrallah also "eliminated" another 20 Hezbollah members, as its forces kept pounding Lebanon.

It said "more than 20 other terrorists of varying ranks" were present when Friday's air strike killed Nasrallah, an attack that dealt the Iran-backed armed group a seismic blow.

Israel also said Nabil Qaouq, a member of Hezbollah's central council, was killed in a strike on Saturday, adding that jets continued to hit "dozens" of targets around Lebanon.

In one attack which Israel called a "precise strike" in Hezbollah's southern Beirut bastion, a witness told AFP a rocket hit a building which collapsed instantly.

A source close to Hezbollah told AFP the target had been Abu Ali Rida, a commander of one of the group's sectors in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah later said Rida was "fine".

Israeli air strikes have decimated Hezbollah's senior command structure, with Nasrallah's right-hand man Fuad Shukr, head of the elite Radwan Force Ibrahim Aqil and others among the dead.

A Hezbollah statement on Sunday confirmed that the group's top commander in south Lebanon, Ali Karake, had also been killed on Friday.

The past week's waves of strikes targeting Hezbollah have intensified fears in Lebanon and the wider region of more violence to come.

Hezbollah launched low-intensity cross-border strikes on Israeli troops after its Palestinian ally Hamas staged its unprecedented attack on Israel last October 7, sparking war with Israel in the Gaza Strip.

Nearly a year later, Israel announced a shift in its focus to battling Hezbollah on its northern front.

Hezbollah, a powerful political, military and social force in Lebanon, confirmed Nasrallah's killing in the massive strike on the group's main bastion in south Beirut.

"We all started crying," Maha Karit told AFP in the Lebanese capital after Nasrallah's death.

With Lebanon already mired in political and economic crisis, the escalation has pushed it to the brink.

Israeli bombardment has killed more than 700 people in a week, including 14 paramedics over a two-day period, according to Lebanon's health ministry. Most of the deaths came last Monday, the deadliest day of violence since Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war.

Israel's military said Sunday its aircraft had hit "dozens of Hezbollah terror targets" after "hundreds" of strikes on Friday and Saturday.

AFPTV live images showed grey smoke rising beyond palm trees in the coastal city of Tyre, and more smoke further away across a bay.

It said Qaouq was "eliminated" in south Beirut on Saturday. Hezbollah has yet to officially announce his death, but a source close to the group said he had been killed.

Hezbollah said it had again fired rockets on the northern Israeli town of Safed.

Lebanon's National News Agency reported a series of raids in and around the city of Baalbek in Lebanon's east.

At least six people were killed in a strike on a house in the northeastern Hermel region, it reported.

Hezbollah said its fighters fired "a volley of Fadi-1" rockets at an Israeli base in the Golan Heights early Sunday. Israel reported "approximately eight" launches from Lebanon that fell in unpopulated areas near the Israeli-annexed territory.

- Cult status -

Nasrallah was the face of Hezbollah, enjoying cult status among his supporters.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had "settled the score" with his killing, and Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the world was "a safer place" without him.

US President Joe Biden -- whose government is Israel's top arms supplier -- said it was a "measure of justice for his many victims".

Analysts told AFP Nasrallah's death leaves a bruised Hezbollah under pressure to respond.

"Either we see an unprecedented reaction by Hezbollah... or this is total defeat," said Heiko Wimmen of the International Crisis Group think tank.

Nasrallah's killing also showcased Israel's military and intelligence prowess.

"It demonstrates... just how deeply Israel has penetrated Hezbollah," said James Dorsey of Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

Hezbollah backer Iran has condemned Nasrallah's assassination, with First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref threatening it would bring about Israel's "destruction".

On Sunday, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also vowed that the killing of its Revolutionary Guards general Abbas Nilforoushan alongside Nasrallah would "not go unanswered".

Allied groups across the region such as Yemen's Huthi rebels, already drawn into the Gaza war, have vowed action against Israel.

An "unmanned aerial target" approaching Israel over the Red Sea -- where the Iran-backed Huthis have launched attacks before -- was intercepted on Sunday, Israel's military said.

- Emergency -

UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi said "well over 200,000 people are displaced inside Lebanon" and more than 50,000 have fled to neighbouring Syria.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said up to one million people may have been forced from their homes, in potentially the "largest displacement movement" in Lebanon's history, he said.

The World Food Programme said it had launched an emergency operation to provide meals and support for "up to one million people".

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot will travel to Lebanon on Sunday, his ministry said, after he spoke with Mikati and said Paris sought "an immediate halt" to Israeli strikes.

France also appealed for Hezbollah and Iran, to abstain from any action that could lead to "regional conflagration".

In Gaza, civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said an Israeli strike killed at least three Palestinians in a house in Gaza City, with three more killed in separate strikes in the territory's north and centre.

Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.

Of the 251 hostages seized by militants, 97 are still held in Gaza, including 33 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 41,595 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The UN has described the figures as reliable.

Related Links
Space War News

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
WAR REPORT
Myanmar junta bombs opposition-held town hours after talks offer
Yangon (AFP) Sept 27, 2024
Myanmar's junta carried out fresh air strikes on an opposition-held town Friday, hours after issuing an unprecedented invitation to its enemies for talks on the country's civil war. Thursday's surprise call for discussions was likely a sop to main ally China and a nudge towards controversial fresh elections, analysts said, and two prominent armed groups swiftly dismissed it. The offer came with the junta reeling from battlefield reverses to ethnic minority armed groups and pro-democracy "Peopl ... read more

WAR REPORT
British forces 'played their part' in defending Israel: UK minister

West 'afraid' to even talk about helping shoot down Russian missiles: Zelensky

German army activates air-defence system, citing Russia threat

Major progress repored in Next-Gen OPIR Missile Warning Program

WAR REPORT
Yemen's Huthis claim missile attack on Israel

Taiwan on alert after detecting China missile firing

Yemen's Huthis say fired missile at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport

Prayers and applause: two sides of Jerusalem react to Iran missiles

WAR REPORT
Northrop Grumman highlights MQ-4C Triton navigation test over Arctic Ocean

Iran unveils new drone, missile amid rising tensions

Pro-Iran groups in Iraq claim drone attack against Israel: statement

Airbus Assigns GMV to Develop Navigation System for SIRTAP UAS

WAR REPORT
GMV to lead development of communications hub for EU's GOVSATCOM program

Astranis secures cxontract to add military Ka band to Omega satellites

NATO contracts SES for secure satellite communications via O3b mPOWER

Boeing advances quantum communications with 2026 space test satellite

WAR REPORT
China's rapid military build-up a 'serious concern': Japan govt spokesman

Australian training mishap puts 12 Singapore troops in hospital

Hezbollah says Israel crossed "all red lines" with electronic device attacks

Sweden boosts 2025 defence budget to 2.4% of GDP

WAR REPORT
Russia plans sharp defence spending hike in 2025

Zelensky hails Ukraine's 'new defence industry'; as Russians divided over army spending surge

Russians divided over army spending surge

Israel says secures $8.7 bn US military aid package

WAR REPORT
NATO gets a new chief - but don't expect a revolution

Trump to Putin: the key challenges facing Rutte at NATO

Rutte takes reins at NATO as US vote looms

China's Xi tells Putin ready to 'expand' ties: state media

WAR REPORT
New Technique Enables Mass Production of Metal Nanowires

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.