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Middle East
Supporters of Iraq's Hezbollah Brigades wave flags as they demonstrate to show solidarity with Lebanon's Hezbollah movement in the central holy shrine city of Najaf on September 27, 2024. Photo: Qassem al-KAABI / AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Lebanese Hezbollah on Saturday confirmed its leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike on their headquarters in southern Beirut. His death has drawn condemnation from Iraq, which announced three days of mourning.
“Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary General of Hezbollah, has joined his great, immortal martyr comrades whom he led for about 30 years,” Hezbollah said in a statement released hours after Tel Aviv announced his “elimination.”
Nasrallah was killed “following the treacherous Zionist strike on the southern suburbs” of the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Friday, according to the Hezbollah statement.
Iran, which backs Hezbollah, said Nasrallah’s death will not end their campaign against Israel.
“The honorable path of Sayyed of Resistance, Mr. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, will continue, and his sacred goal of liberating al-Quds al-Sharif [Jerusalem] will be realized, God willing,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani wrote on X.
In Iraq, the government condemned the killing of Hezbollah's leader and urged the international community to end the expanding conflict.
“The criminal act that targeted the southern suburbs [of Beirut] yesterday expresses a reckless desire to expand the conflict at the expense of the peoples of the region, their security, and their stability,” Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani said in a statement.
“We reiterate our warnings and emphasize the responsibility of international organizations, the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and all key regional powers to take decisive action to halt the aggression,” the statement continued.
The Iraqi prime minister declared a three-day period of national mourning for Nasrallah.
Iraq's highest Shiite authority Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani paid tribute to Nasrallah.
"Martyr Nasrallah played a remarkable role in the victory over the Israeli occupation by liberating Lebanese territories and supported the Iraqis with everything at his disposal in liberating their country from the ISIS [Islamic State] terrorists," read a statement from his office.
Iraqi political parties and parliamentary blocs, both Shiite and Sunni, also released statements condemning the assassination.
“You lived with pride and departed as a martyr,” the influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said in a statement on X.
The Islamic Dawa Party of former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the Babylon movement, the National Wisdom movement, and many other Shiite parties issued statements of mourning.
“Today, the nation lost a brave leader and a great fighter, with the martyrdom of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, as a result of a treacherous Zionist terrorist strike,” the Sunni Azm Alliance said in a statement.
Eleven people were killed and more than 100 others were injured in the Israeli airstrike on Friday, Lebanon’s health ministry said in a news conference on Saturday afternoon.
PUK leader Bafel Talabani shared a condolence message for Nasrallah and condemned Israel's attacks.
“We call on the international community to fulfill its legal and humanitarian role in stopping this bleeding and the aggressions against Palestine, Lebanon, and the region," he said on X, calling for the “highest levels of restraint to avoid a comprehensive war."
A senior Iranian commander was also killed in Israel’s strike on Beirut. Iran’s state media on Saturday confirmed the death of General Abbas Nilforoushan, deputy commander of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) operations.
Nilforoushan “was killed in Israel's attack on Lebanon that assassinated the Hezbollah chief,” IRNA reported.
The strike was carried out moments after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York, saying “enough is enough.”
"Israel has been tolerating this intolerable situation for nearly a year. Well, I've come here today to say enough is enough,” he said, referring to threats from Hezbollah.
"As long as Hezbollah chooses the path of war, Israel has no choice, and Israel has every right to remove this threat and return our citizens to their homes safely,” he added.
Qais al-Khazali, the secretary general of the pro-Iran militia Asaib Ahl al-Haq, condemned the killing of Nasrallah and vowed to continue his fight against Israel.
"We renew our pledge to his [Nasrallah's] pure soul... to continue on his path, remain steadfast in his way, and persist in resisting the occupying enemies until all objectives are fully achieved... until every inch of the usurped land is liberated from the criminal Zionist presence, the cancerous tumor (Israel) is removed from the body of this nation, and any foreign military presence is ended in our beloved homeland," Khazali said in a statement on X.
The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel has intensified since October 7, when Palestinian Hamas militants launched a large-scale incursion into southern Israel, killing more than 1,170 people, according to Israeli figures. Israel responded with a massive ongoing offensive on Gaza, killing over 40,000 people, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Israel has also stepped up its strikes in Lebanon and parts of Syria over the past year, targeting Hezbollah and Iranian personnel.
Global efforts for a ceasefire have so far failed.
“Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary General of Hezbollah, has joined his great, immortal martyr comrades whom he led for about 30 years,” Hezbollah said in a statement released hours after Tel Aviv announced his “elimination.”
Nasrallah was killed “following the treacherous Zionist strike on the southern suburbs” of the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Friday, according to the Hezbollah statement.
Iran, which backs Hezbollah, said Nasrallah’s death will not end their campaign against Israel.
“The honorable path of Sayyed of Resistance, Mr. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, will continue, and his sacred goal of liberating al-Quds al-Sharif [Jerusalem] will be realized, God willing,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani wrote on X.
In Iraq, the government condemned the killing of Hezbollah's leader and urged the international community to end the expanding conflict.
“The criminal act that targeted the southern suburbs [of Beirut] yesterday expresses a reckless desire to expand the conflict at the expense of the peoples of the region, their security, and their stability,” Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani said in a statement.
“We reiterate our warnings and emphasize the responsibility of international organizations, the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and all key regional powers to take decisive action to halt the aggression,” the statement continued.
The Iraqi prime minister declared a three-day period of national mourning for Nasrallah.
Iraq's highest Shiite authority Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani paid tribute to Nasrallah.
"Martyr Nasrallah played a remarkable role in the victory over the Israeli occupation by liberating Lebanese territories and supported the Iraqis with everything at his disposal in liberating their country from the ISIS [Islamic State] terrorists," read a statement from his office.
Iraqi political parties and parliamentary blocs, both Shiite and Sunni, also released statements condemning the assassination.
“You lived with pride and departed as a martyr,” the influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said in a statement on X.
The Islamic Dawa Party of former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the Babylon movement, the National Wisdom movement, and many other Shiite parties issued statements of mourning.
“Today, the nation lost a brave leader and a great fighter, with the martyrdom of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, as a result of a treacherous Zionist terrorist strike,” the Sunni Azm Alliance said in a statement.
Eleven people were killed and more than 100 others were injured in the Israeli airstrike on Friday, Lebanon’s health ministry said in a news conference on Saturday afternoon.
PUK leader Bafel Talabani shared a condolence message for Nasrallah and condemned Israel's attacks.
“We call on the international community to fulfill its legal and humanitarian role in stopping this bleeding and the aggressions against Palestine, Lebanon, and the region," he said on X, calling for the “highest levels of restraint to avoid a comprehensive war."
A senior Iranian commander was also killed in Israel’s strike on Beirut. Iran’s state media on Saturday confirmed the death of General Abbas Nilforoushan, deputy commander of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) operations.
Nilforoushan “was killed in Israel's attack on Lebanon that assassinated the Hezbollah chief,” IRNA reported.
The strike was carried out moments after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York, saying “enough is enough.”
"Israel has been tolerating this intolerable situation for nearly a year. Well, I've come here today to say enough is enough,” he said, referring to threats from Hezbollah.
"As long as Hezbollah chooses the path of war, Israel has no choice, and Israel has every right to remove this threat and return our citizens to their homes safely,” he added.
Qais al-Khazali, the secretary general of the pro-Iran militia Asaib Ahl al-Haq, condemned the killing of Nasrallah and vowed to continue his fight against Israel.
"We renew our pledge to his [Nasrallah's] pure soul... to continue on his path, remain steadfast in his way, and persist in resisting the occupying enemies until all objectives are fully achieved... until every inch of the usurped land is liberated from the criminal Zionist presence, the cancerous tumor (Israel) is removed from the body of this nation, and any foreign military presence is ended in our beloved homeland," Khazali said in a statement on X.
The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel has intensified since October 7, when Palestinian Hamas militants launched a large-scale incursion into southern Israel, killing more than 1,170 people, according to Israeli figures. Israel responded with a massive ongoing offensive on Gaza, killing over 40,000 people, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Israel has also stepped up its strikes in Lebanon and parts of Syria over the past year, targeting Hezbollah and Iranian personnel.
Global efforts for a ceasefire have so far failed.
Updated at 8:55 pm
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