By Maya Gebeily, Tom Perry and Emily Rose
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – The Israeli army said it had attacked Hezbollah’s headquarters in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Friday, in an attack that shook the Lebanese capital and sent thick clouds of smoke over the city.
Media outlet Axios quoted an Israeli source as saying that Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was the target of the attack and that the Israeli army was checking to see if he had been hit.
A source close to Hezbollah told Reuters that Nasrallah is alive, while Iran’s Tasnim news agency also reported that he was safe. A senior Iranian security official told Reuters that Tehran was checking his status.
Iran-backed Hezbollah’s al-Manar television reported that four buildings were destroyed and there were many casualties in the multiple attacks, which marked a major escalation of Israel’s conflict with the heavily armed Hezbollah.
Al-Manar’s live broadcast showed search and rescue teams fighting over protruding concrete and metal, and a correspondent for the television station said the attack had left several large craters and damaged many surrounding buildings.
The Israeli military said it had carried out a “precise strike” against Hezbollah headquarters which it said was “embedded under residential buildings in the heart of Dahiyeh in Beirut.”
Israel has attacked the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut, known as Dahiyeh, four times over the past week, killing at least three senior Hezbollah military commanders.
But Friday’s attack was much more powerful, with multiple explosions that shook windows throughout the city, reminiscent of Israeli airstrikes during the war it waged against Hezbollah in 2006.
In a televised statement, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said the central command center was embedded deep in civilian areas.
The attacks hit Beirut shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue Israel’s attacks on Iranian-backed fighters in Lebanon in a closely watched speech at the United Nations, as hopes for a ceasefire faded. fire that could prevent a total regional war.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the attack showed that Israel did not care about global calls for a ceasefire in Lebanon.
SHARP ESCALATION OF THE CONFLICT
It was by far the most powerful attack carried out by Israel in Beirut during nearly a year of conflict with Hezbollah. Security sources in Lebanon said the attack targeted an area where senior Hezbollah officials are usually based.
The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah has escalated dramatically this week, with Israeli airstrikes killing more than 700 people in Lebanon. The escalation has raised fears of an even more destructive conflict between the heavily armed adversaries.
Speaking at the UN General Assembly, Netanyahu said: “As long as Hezbollah chooses the path of war, Israel has no choice, and Israel has every right to eliminate this threat and return our citizens to their homes safely.” .
“Israel has been tolerating this intolerable situation for almost a year. Well, I have come here today to say that enough is enough,” he said.
Several delegations left as Netanyahu approached the lectern as his supporters in the gallery cheered.
Netanyahu’s office said he would cut short his trip to New York after the attack and return to Israel on Friday.
The United States received no advance warning about the attack on Beirut and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart while the operation was underway, a Pentagon spokesman said on Friday.
Israel says its campaign aims to ensure the safe return home of tens of thousands of people who were forced to evacuate their homes in northern Israel due to rocket attacks Hezbollah has been carrying out in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas, which fights Israel in Gaza.
This week’s escalation has displaced some 100,000 people in Lebanon, bringing the total number of people uprooted in the country by the conflict to more than 200,000.