The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Friday (September 27) that they had carried out a “precision strike” on the Hezbollah headquarters located in Beirut, Lebanon.
“Israel Defense Forces conducted a precise strike on the central headquarters of the Hezbollah terrorist organization. These locations are the hub of Hezbollah’s terrorist activities,” said IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari. “Hezbollah’s terror headquarters were intentionally built below residential buildings in Beirut, as part of Hezbollah’s strategy to use the Lebanese people as human shields.”
Videos and images show thick smoke rising over Beirut after the Israeli airstrikes.
Hagari condemned Hezbollah for continuously launching rockets, missiles, and suicide drones at Israeli civilians and added that when a terrorist organization seeks to destroy a country from its borders, it is something that any sovereign nation in the world would do to eliminate such a threat.
“Israel will take necessary actions to protect our people, ensuring Israeli families can safely and securely return to their homes,” stated Hagari.
On October 8, 2023, the day after the Palestinian armed group Hamas attacked Israel, Hezbollah, supportive of Hamas, began launching attacks on Israel, forcing around 60,000 Israeli civilians to evacuate their homes.
The American news website Axios cited an Israeli source on Friday, stating that the target of the Israeli attack on the southern outskirts of Beirut was Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and the Israeli military is verifying if he has been killed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday that as long as Hezbollah poses a threat to Israel from its base in Lebanon, Israel has “no choice” but to retaliate.
“As long as Hezbollah chooses the path of war, Israel has no choice, Israel has every right to eliminate this threat and to ensure the safety of our citizens returning to their homes. And that is exactly what we are doing,” he expressed.
According to the Lebanese government, the Israeli military has rapidly escalated strikes against Hezbollah in recent days, resulting in hundreds or thousands of deaths in Lebanon and forcing tens of thousands of civilians to flee their homes in the southern region of Lebanon.