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| Israel Attack Lebanon |
What we know
The Israeli military says it struck Hezbollah's headquarters in southern Beirut after reports of a huge blast in the Lebanese capital. An Israeli official told NBC News that the target was the Iran-backed militant group's powerful leader, Hassan Nasrallah. NBC News has not confirmed if he has been killed.
The attack killed at least six people and injured 91, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut short his trip to the U.S. to return to Israel after news of the Beirut strike emerged.
Earlier, Netanyahu, who is facing international calls to agree to a cease-fire, staunchly defended his country's actions in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon in an address to the United Nations General Assembly. He also lashed out at the international organization, calling it a “swamp of antisemitic bile.”
Israel's new aerial offensive has killed 700 people in southern, central and eastern Lebanon since Monday, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.
Hezbollah has continued to fire into Israel, setting off sirens in and around the northern city of Haifa after about 10 projectiles were identified crossing from Lebanon. Some were intercepted and others were identified as having fallen in open areas.
The World Health Organization said 27 health workers have been killed in the recent upsurge in violence, calling the deaths an “unacceptable trend.”
While the fighting intensifies between Israel and Hezbollah, there are Israeli families living near the northern border who have been displaced since the October 7 attacks.
A look into Israel’s thinking
Israeli intelligence indicated that Iran and its proxies had a long-term a plan to encircle — and eliminate — Israel by 2040, but Yahya Sinwar and Hamas acted early by launching the Oct. 7 terror attacks, a senior Israeli official told NBC News.
Hassan Nasrallah and Hezbollah were always the lynchpin to the plan to wipe out Israel because they’re the best armed.
Israel decided that if it wanted to get its people back to their homes after a full year, it had to go after Nasrallah in Lebanon and it wanted to do so without a ground invasion if possible, the senior Israeli official said.
Today’s strike in in Beirut was aimed at Nasrallah, but Israel doesn’t know yet if he was killed, the official said.
So after recent strikes, does Israel feel it has eliminated enough of Hezbollah’s command and control that it can agree to a cease-fire?
“We are further along than we were, but they still have thousands of rockets,” the official said, adding that it would consider itself even closer if Nasrallah was killed in today’s strike. “But in war, when your guy is down, you keep moving.”
And if Nasrallah is eliminated, “it would break the axis of Iran’s proxies,” he said.