The Lebanese army deployed throughout Beirut on Saturday afternoon, standing guard at major intersections throughout the city, likely in anticipation of popular reactions to the apparent killing of Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah.
Lines formed at Beirut supermarkets as people rushed to buy basic goods such as water and dried foods, while people waited in queues outside ATMs. The buzz of low-flying Israeli drones patrolling Beirut’s skies was a constant sound throughout the day.
Lebanon’s cabinet announced it would convene for an extraordinary session at 19:30 pm (BST 17:30) in response to the events of the last two days.
A source in a Lebanese parliamentary party opposed to Hezbollah said that while it was too early to comment on Nasrallah’s death and the effect it will have on the country, they said this moment could be seized upon to “turn a page” in Lebanon and “regroup under the rule of the state and constitution”.
“Hezbollah’s rhetoric for the last two decades has been calling for a parallel state, communication, economy and everything. Apparently, this rhetoric has proven not to be successful at all,” the source said, adding that the country needed to “grasp the momentum today, build a state” and elect a president.
Lebanon has been without a president for almost two years, as Hezbollah and opposition blocks wrestled over a preferred candidate.
“This war has been highly costly, we need to turn things around,” the source said.
Israel’s claimed assassination of Hezbollah’s leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in a massive strike on an underground headquarters in Beirut’s southern suburbs marks the most alarming escalation in almost a year of war between the Shia militant organisation and Israel.
Immediately after a bellicose speech by the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, at the UN general assembly – where he appeared to directly threaten Iran as well as promise to continue “degrading” Hezbollah – the first reports of a major strike began to emerge.
In less than an hour, Israeli journalists with connections to the country’s defence and security establishment were suggesting Nasrallah was the target and that he had been in the area of the headquarters at the time of the strike. On Saturday morning, the Israeli military said he had been killed.
That the strike was regarded as highly significant was quickly confirmed soon after it happened by a series of statements from Israel – including an image showing Netanyahu ordering the attack on the phone from his New York hotel room.
The EU has warned airlines against using Lebanese and Israeli airspace for the coming month.
In a statement, the European Commission and European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) described “an overall intensification of air strikes and degradation in the security situation”.
They issued an official recommendation “not to operate within the airspaces of Lebanon and Israel at all flight levels”.
Provisionally lasting until 31 October 2024, the Conflict Zone Information Bulletin (CZIB) “can be reviewed earlier and adapted or withdrawn”, the statement added.
“EASA will continue to closely monitor the situation, with a view to assess whether there is an increase or decrease of risks for EU aircraft operators as a result of the evolution of the threat,” the body said.
Among Hezbollah’s constituents, Hassan Nasrallah was viewed with a prophet-like fervour, seen as the liberator of south Lebanon from Israel’s 18-year occupation. At Hezbollahrallies, supporters chant “Labaik ya Hussein and Labaik ya Nasrallah” – “O Hussein, O Nasrallah, I am here for you” – shouting their devotion to Hussein, a key figure in Shia Islam, and Nasrallah.
When Nasrallah spoke in televised addresses, supporters would tune in for guidance on political, spiritual and cultural issues. Many Lebanese attribute the failure of the 2019 revolution to a speech by Nasrallah, when he told his supporters it was time to get off the streets, depriving the protest movement of its non-sectarian character.
Whoever replaces the enigmatic former secretary general will have to deal with an organisation that over the last year, has lost almost every senior military leader and is on the back foot from the Israeli bombing campaign
The death also throws the fate of the Lebanese state into question. Hezbollah is deeply embedded in the state, controlling a key share of parliament and exercising influence over several ministries, such as the directorate of general security.
Lebanon’s foreign policy is largely dictated by the group, particularly when it comes to neighbouring states such as Israel.
You can read more on the significance of the claim that Nasrallah has been killed in the rest of this story by my colleagues Peter Beaumontand William Christou:
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has given his first remarks since the Israeli army said it had killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
In a statement, he called on Muslims “to stand by the people of Lebanon and the proud Hezbollah with whatever means they have and assist them in confronting the… wicked regime (of Israel).”
“The fate of this region will be determined by the forces of resistance, with Hezbollah at the forefront”, state media quoted Khamenei as having said. Khamenei did not mention Nasrallah at all in his statement.
He denounced the killing of “defenceless” civilians in Lebanon, saying it showed “the short-sightedness and foolish policies of the leaders” of Israel.
Israeli “criminals must know that they are far too small to cause any significant damage on the strongholds of Hezbollah in Lebanon,” he said.“All the resistance forces in the region support and stand alongside Hezbollah.”
We reported in an earlier post that Reuters has been told that Khamenei was transferred to a secure location inside the country with heightened security measures in place.
Israel’s military said that “most” senior leaders of Hezbollah had been killed, after it announced the death of Hassan Nasrallah this morning.
“Most of the senior leaders of Hezbollah have been eliminated,” military spokesman Lt Col Nadav Shoshani told an online press briefing.
Earlier, the Israeli military said Nasrallah was killed on Friday in a “targeted strike” on Hezbollah’s central headquarters in Dahiyeh, Beirut. The military said he was killed alongside other senior members of Hezbollah – including Ali Karaki, the commander of Hezbollah’s southern front. Hezbollah has yet to make a statement on Israel’s claim that it had killed Nasrallah.
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