The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have confirmed the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a precision airstrike on Hezbollah’s underground command centre in Beirut.
The airstrike, conducted by the Israeli Air Force on Saturday afternoon, local time, was described as a highly effective operation that also eliminated several senior commanders within the group.
The attack was part of an ongoing Israeli military campaign targeting Hezbollah’s infrastructure in Lebanon, a campaign that has so far been conducted exclusively through air power. Israeli sources indicate that the strike was carried out using GBU-72 bunker-busting bombs, designed to penetrate underground facilities. Footage from Beirut’s centre shows significant explosions, corroborating the effectiveness of the airstrikes.
Confirmation of Nasrallah’s Death
This is the first official confirmation from the Israeli side that Hassan Nasrallah was killed in the attack. Hezbollah, for its part, has remained silent, neither confirming nor denying Nasrallah’s death. However, the absence of any communication from Nasrallah or his associates has fuelled speculation that he was indeed among the casualties.
The Iranian government, a key ally of Hezbollah, has also been silent on the matter, adding to the likelihood that Nasrallah’s death has dealt a significant blow to the organisation’s leadership.
The Strategic Impact of the Airstrike
The death of Nasrallah marks a pivotal moment in Israel’s military campaign against Hezbollah, further crippling the leadership of the group. In recent days, Israeli forces have conducted an intensive air campaign aimed at neutralising Hezbollah’s command structure. This operation, while initially aimed at disrupting communication networks, has rapidly evolved into a full-scale offensive targeting Hezbollah’s top commanders.
By targeting Hezbollah’s underground bunkers, Israel is systematically dismantling one of the group’s key defensive advantages. Hezbollah is known for its extensive underground facilities, which are believed to house not only its leadership but also large stockpiles of weapons, including rockets and missiles. Israeli intelligence and air power have been crucial in identifying and neutralising these bunkers, further weakening Hezbollah’s ability to coordinate its operations.
Hezbollah’s Command Structure in Crisis
Nasrallah’s death, along with the loss of other high-ranking Hezbollah commanders, has left the group in disarray. Israel’s strategy appears to be focused on decapitating Hezbollah’s leadership, thus rendering the organisation ineffective in the long term.
Hezbollah, much like Hamas, has built a horizontally structured organisation, which allows for a degree of resilience in the face of leadership losses. However, Israel has demonstrated that even such horizontal structures can be systematically dismantled through sustained and precise military strikes.
Recent strikes have targeted not only Hezbollah’s command and control facilities but also its stockpiles of weapons, including rocket launchers. Israeli forces have been destroying these assets at a pace that far exceeds Hezbollah’s ability to replace them. The cumulative effect of these operations is expected to severely limit Hezbollah’s capacity to launch large-scale rocket attacks on Israel.
Israel’s Ongoing Military Campaign
The current military operations are part of a broader campaign that began after Israel launched its counterterrorism operation in Gaza last October. While Hezbollah is estimated to have an arsenal of over 250,000 rockets, it is unclear how many of these can be launched simultaneously, given Israel’s consistent targeting of Hezbollah’s launch capabilities. Israeli military sources suggest that they are able to neutralise thousands of rocket launchers daily, severely limiting Hezbollah’s ability to sustain any prolonged offensive.
The air campaign against Hezbollah has proven to be highly successful, with Israeli jets, including F-35s, playing a key role in the strikes. The Israeli Air Force’s dominance in the skies has been uncontested, with Hezbollah’s Russian-made air defence systems failing to counter Israel’s high-tech weaponry. These systems, which include variants of the S-300 missile defence system, have proven largely ineffective, as demonstrated by the failure of similar systems in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Israel’s use of advanced military technology, such as the F-35, has allowed it to penetrate deep into Hezbollah’s defences with minimal risk. The precision of the airstrikes, coupled with Israel’s superior intelligence-gathering capabilities, has enabled the country to target Hezbollah’s critical infrastructure with devastating effect.
A Broader Warning to Israel’s Enemies
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, warned Iran and its allies, including Hezbollah, that Israel has the capability to strike any of its adversaries, no matter where they are located. The airstrike that killed Nasrallah is a stark demonstration of this capability, signalling to Iran and other hostile actors in the region that Israel will act decisively to neutralise any threats.
Netanyahu’s speech also hinted at the possibility of escalating the conflict further if necessary, stating that Israel had only used a fraction of its available military power in the ongoing operations. This suggests that Israel is prepared to intensify its campaign should Hezbollah or Iran choose to retaliate.
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