Lebanon-based Hezbollah confirmed on Saturday that Nasrallah, its leader since 1992, had been killed in an Israeli airstrike on Friday. The Iran-backed militant group vowed to “continue the holy war” against Israel, while Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Nasrallah’s killing “shall not go unavenged.”
The Middle East is bracing for possible retaliation for the killing, a dramatic escalation of the conflict roiling the region. Some countries have urged their citizens to leave Lebanon, as fears grow of a possible Israeli ground invasion.
The Israeli military has attacked hundreds of Hezbollah targets throughout Lebanon in recent days, the IDF said, as it seeks to disable the group’s operations and infrastructure. The strikes have killed more than 30 people and wounded almost 200, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
Hezbollah began a campaign of cross-border strikes on Israel a day after its Palestinian ally Hamas staged its unprecedented attack on Israel last October, killing 1,200 people and triggering the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military said last week that it was preparing for a possible occupation of territory in Lebanon, and has sent two brigades to northern Israel to train for a potential ground invasion.