.jpeg "What we know about Israel’s latest attacks on Lebanon")
Israeli warplanes flattened several residential buildings just south of Beirut on Friday evening in an attempt to kill Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, who was convening a leadership meeting in an underground headquarters, according to five Israeli officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence reports.
The initial assessment of Israeli intelligence agencies, based on the number and the size of the bombs used and information gathered from inside the militant group, is that Mr. Nasrallah has been killed, the officials said. But they cautioned that conclusion may yet change.
A few hours later, Israel’s forces launched a series of new airstrikes early Saturday on buildings in the same neighborhood, known as the Dahiya, after warning residents to flee, the military said. The strikes were intended to destroy weapons.
Killing Mr. Nasrallah would be a major escalation in Israel’s rapidly expanding campaign against Hezbollah over the last two weeks, which has threatened to spiral into an all-out regional war. Fears have grown that Hezbollah’s backer, Iran, might be drawn into the fight, further destabilizing the Middle East.
The Israeli airstrikes came shortly after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel gave a defiant speech at the United Nations General Assembly, vowing to continue the fight against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon despite international calls for a cease-fire. He said defeating Hezbollah was essential to Israel’s survival and called the group “a terror army perched on our northern border.”
Lebanon’s health ministry said at least six people were killed and more than 90 injured by the Israeli strikes on Friday evening, but the toll was expected to rise. Emergency workers were still searching through the rubble even as Israel struck again.
“They are residential buildings,” the health minister, Dr. Firass Abiad, said. “They were filled with people.”