Hezbollah has confirmed the killing of its leader Hassan Nasrallah in a massive air attack on a densely populated neighbourhood of Beirut on Friday evening.
Iran’s supreme leader says “the massacre of the defenceless people in Lebanon” is evidence of Israel’s “short-sighted” policy.
Israeli air raids on different parts of Lebanon continue through Saturday morning, forcing an increasing number of families to flee their homes.
More than 700 people, including dozens of children, have been killed since Israel intensified a bombing campaign on Monday.
At least 41,586 people have been killed and 96,210 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza. In Israel, the number killed in the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 is at least 1,139, while more than 200 people were taken captive.
- More from Hezbollah’s statement on Nasrallah’s assassination
The Lebanese group has confirmed that its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed.
Here are some highlights from the statement:
- His Eminence, the Master of Resistance, the righteous servant, has passed away to be with his Lord and to His pleasure as a great martyr,
- His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary General of Hezbollah, has joined his great, immortal martyr comrades whose path he led for nearly thirty years, during which he led them from victory to victory.
- We offer our condolences … Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei, may his shadow endure, the great authorities, the mujahideen, the believers, the nation of resistance, our patient and struggling Lebanese people, the entire Islamic nation, all the free and oppressed people in the world, and his honorable and patient family.
- We offer our condolences and congratulations to his fellow martyrs who joined his pure and holy procession following the treacherous Zionist raid on the southern suburb.
- The leadership of Hezbollah pledges … that it will continue its jihad in confronting the enemy, in support of Gaza and Palestine, and in defense of Lebanon and its steadfast and honorable people.
- To the honorable mujahideen and the victorious and triumphant heroes of the Islamic Resistance, you are the trust of the beloved martyr Sayyid [Nasrallah].
Nuclear weapons and possible regional escalation scenarios:
The potential for major regional escalation is high and could come in different forms, according to Sami al-Arian, director of the Center for Islam and Global Affairs at Istanbul Zaim University.
He told Al Jazeera that “one form obviously is a regional war that Iran would be part of”.
“But I doubt that that would be a beginning. I think there will be major retaliatory strikes coming from Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and other places, possibly. That may lead to a regional war depending on how Israel responds,” al-Arian said.
He also said that “apparently, Israel is trying to get a regional war, particularly a few weeks before the presidential elections in America, trying to draw America into this fight”, adding that Israel has “a major interest in trying to get Iran’s power degraded, particularly its nuclear programme”.
“There is also a theory that Iran has been waiting until it develops that nuclear weapon and didn’t want to escalate before it actually has that weapon. Whether that is true or not, we have to wait and see,” al-Arian said.
“There is no evidence that it has the weapon, but it has the capability of having it, particularly after it has massively enriched uranium to the point where it can get a nuclear weapon within a few weeks. Whether they make the decision to have it or not, that remains to be seen,” he added.