Hassan Nasrallah was killed in Hezbollah's war operations room during an Israeli attack
Agencies
06/01/2025
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was in the militant group's war operations room when he was killed in an Israeli airstrike last year, a senior officer of the militant force has revealed. - Reuters file photo
BEIRUT: Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was in the militant group's war operations room when he was killed in an Israeli airstrike last year, a senior official of the militant force revealed on Sunday.
A series of Israeli airstrikes destroyed several buildings on the southern edge of Beirut on September 27 last year, thus claiming the life of the supreme leader Hezollah.
The Lebanese Ministry of Health reported that six other people were also killed in the attack. According to news reports, Nasrallah and other senior officials were meeting at an underground location.
The assassination of Nasrallah, who had led Hezbollah for 32 years, caused a small attack between Israel and the militant group to turn into an all-out war.
The conflict devastated many areas in southern and eastern Lebanon for two months until a US-sponsored ceasefire came into effect on November 27.
"His Majesty (Hassan Nasrallah) often leads battles and wars from this location," Hezbollah's top security official, Wafiq Safa, told a news conference Sunday at the site where Nasrallah was killed.
According to Safa, Nasrallah died in the war operations room but did not give further details.
Lebanese media had earlier reported that Safa had also been targeted by Israeli airstrikes in central Beirut before the ceasefire, but he was not injured.
In the first phase of the ceasefire, Hezbollah was supposed to move its fighters, weapons and infrastructure far north of the Litani River, while Israeli troops invading southern Lebanon would have to retreat completely within 60 days.
The Lebanese army will be massively deployed alongside the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force to be the sole armed side in the south of the country.
Lebanon and Hezbollah have criticized Israel's ongoing attacks and flights across the country as well as Israel's withdrawal from just two of the dozens of Lebanese villages it controls.
Israel, on the other hand, said the Lebanese army had not fulfilled its responsibility to dismantle Hezbollah's infrastructure.
Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem in a televised speech last Saturday, warned that their fighters could attack Israel if its troops do not leave the southern territories before the end of this month.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz reiterated a similar stance if Hezbollah forces do not move north of the Litani River and its infrastructure remains intact.
"If these conditions are not met, no agreement will exist and Israel will act on its own to ensure the safety of the people in the north (Israel) returning to their homes," he said.
Safa also informed that the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri, who is negotiating a ceasefire agreement with Washington, said that Hezbollah, the government will meet with the US envoy, Amos Hochstein, in the near future.
"And depending on what happens, then the stance will be determined," Safa said.
Hochstein led diplomatic efforts to reach the fragile ceasefire. - Agency
