Israeli military says it has killed Hezbollah chief Nasrallah
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00:00International diplomacy at an impasse, tens of thousands fleeing their homes, and regional
00:05tensions skyrocketing.
00:07Israel has carried out a number of airstrikes overnight and into this morning in southern
00:11Lebanon and the capital, Beirut.
00:13At least six people are dead, dozens more injured in the southern suburbs, a final toll
00:19expected to be far higher, rescue teams combing through the rubble of six buildings.
00:24Already more than 700 people were killed by Israeli strikes since Monday, then on Friday
00:28Israel carrying out its heaviest bombardment yet of the week.
00:33These strikes targeting Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut moments ago.
00:38Israel's military claimed that he was killed in that strike.
00:43No confirmation yet on that.
00:46The United Nations says the number of those displaced by the conflict in southern Lebanon
00:52has more than doubled to over 211,000.
00:56In the capital, Beirut, hundreds of families cramming into vehicles and fleeing the southern
01:01suburbs overnight in downtown Martyr Square or along the seaside Corniche border walk
01:06area.
01:07Desolate men, women, and young children walking around, sitting on the ground, or some hoping
01:13to maybe sleep.
01:14For more, let's speak to our Beirut correspondent, Rawad Taha.
01:18Hello to you, Rawad.
01:20Take us through some of the latest events.
01:22This has been a very chaotic night for the Lebanese people.
01:28So it started with the Israel carpet bombing an entire neighborhood in Beirut's southern
01:34suburbs.
01:35Shortly afterward, they announced that they targeted Hezbollah's main headquarters with
01:40bunker busters, claiming that Nasrallah and other commanders of Hezbollah were present
01:46at the location.
01:48Moreover, shortly after that, at around midnight, evacuation calls were issued by the Israeli
01:54army to evacuate three specific buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs.
02:00Shortly after that, Israeli airstrikes started attacking Beirut's southern suburbs consecutively.
02:09Not only the three buildings, which were called for evacuation, were attacked, but rather
02:12than tens of buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs were attacked.
02:21The scene in Beirut's southern suburbs overnight was very chaotic.
02:26People and residents were fleeing the suburbs on foot in their cars, sleeping in the streets
02:31in safer areas of Beirut, sleeping on the beach, as we saw in the picture.
02:38It was a very chaotic night.
02:40Now we're hearing, at least from the Israeli side, that they have confirmation that the
02:47secretary general of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, and other Hezbollah officials were indeed
02:52killed in that airstrike.
02:53Yet, we have heard absolutely no statements from Hezbollah or any Lebanese source whatsoever
02:59over the past 18 hours.
03:04The government is absolutely not present as well.
03:08Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Nihati is on his way back to Lebanon from New York, and
03:14there seems to be some sort of a total absence of both this state and Hezbollah at the same
03:20time.
03:21And, Rawad, if Hassan Nasrallah is indeed dead, as the Israeli military is claiming
03:27at the moment, how much of a blow would that be to Hezbollah?
03:32This is a very significant moral blow as a start, and it is a strategic blow as well.
03:39If it is confirmed that he was eliminated along with the rest of Hezbollah's military
03:44leadership, this leaves Hezbollah with a group of unorganized cells operating in southern
03:54Lebanon with no head of command, with no command structure, putting Hezbollah in a very serious
04:02situation.
04:03Even in the past 18 hours, we've only seen a minimal number of barrages fired into northern
04:10Israel.
04:11So, this sort of chaos can be already reflected on the ground in this battle.
04:18But nevertheless, this is the man who's led Hezbollah for the past 20 years, if not more.
04:24He's led Hezbollah in multiple wars with Israel, the 1996 war.
04:30He was there when Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon and he came victory in the year 2000.
04:35He was also there in the year 2006 during the second Lebanon war.
04:42He led the organization back then and also claimed victory during that time when he mentioned
04:49that he stopped the Israeli invasion and Israel did not succeed in fulfilling the goals of
04:54the 2006 war.
04:56He also has played a significant role internally, be it in toppling governments and occupying
05:05the capital in the year 2008, when the government tried to dismantle Hezbollah's telecommunication
05:13network when he was in the opposition.
05:16He was also there in the year 2011 with a very significant geopolitical impact, be it
05:23in supporting the Syrian regime and Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
05:27This is the guy who's been the head of the organization for the past 20 days, a very
05:32charismatic figure described by both his supporters and his opponents.
05:38It's a severe moral blow to his supporters, if confirmed, from the Lebanese side and from
05:43Hezbollah.
05:44Tens of hours ahead, we're not sure if Hezbollah as a structure will be able to continue in
05:51this current war against Israel, given the fact that potentially, potentially, potentially
05:59Naftali and the rest of the command has been, has been, has been killed.
06:05So tens of hours ahead.
06:07Yeah.
06:08And given that, just to remind our viewers, Hezbollah, a militia based in Lebanon, backed
06:14by Iran, one of the key issues here moving forward, if Hassan Nasrallah's death is confirmed,
06:20will be how Iran will respond.
06:23Any idea what that reaction might look like?
06:29We haven't heard anything very clear from the Iranian side until now.
06:34So whether Iran retaliates for Nasrallah's assassination, that is, that is an important
06:42escalation.
06:43And whether Iran decides not to retaliate and does not project its full force against
06:49Israel, it is also a great indication of how things may unfold in the region.
06:54All right, Roadh, thank you very much.
06:56Roadh Taha reporting from Beirut.
06:59As we were saying, Israel's military claiming that Hassan Nasrallah was killed in that strike
07:05in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital.
07:09Still no confirmation on that, but it would be a symbolic and a major blow to the militia
07:15if it is confirmed.