Beirut The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has confirmed the death of its senior leader, Ali Karaki, who served as the head of the southern front, following a series of Israeli airstrikes that targeted the group's base in Beirut’s southern suburbs. The confirmation came in a statement released by Hezbollah on Sunday, which also noted that Karaki was killed alongside the group’s Secretary-General, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, during the Israeli offensive.
According to reports from Xinhua news agency, Israeli warplanes launched significant airstrikes on Friday evening, striking Hezbollah's main headquarters in Dahieh. The attacks resulted in the deaths of Nasrallah and several other high-ranking commanders within the organization, marking a critical blow to Hezbollah’s leadership. The group praised Karaki as a martyr, emphasizing his commitment alongside his "jihadist brothers" during the assault.
In a separate but related development, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Sunday that it had also killed Nabil Qaouk, the commander of Hezbollah’s Preventive Security Unit and a prominent member of the group’s central council, in an airstrike on Saturday. The IDF asserted that Qaouk was closely linked to Hezbollah's top leadership and had been actively involved in orchestrating attacks against Israel, even in the days leading up to his death. The IDF’s statement also highlighted that the U.S. had designated Qaouk as a global terrorist in October 2020 due to his representation of Hezbollah at various events honoring the group’s deceased members and Iranian military leaders, including Qasem Soleimani, who was killed by a U.S. drone strike in January 2020.
The airstrikes had devastating effects on the surrounding residential areas, reportedly flattening several buildings and resulting in at least six fatalities and 91 injuries. The local media reported significant damage to infrastructure within the neighborhood, raising concerns about the humanitarian impact of the ongoing conflict.
These aggressive assaults mark a new escalation in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which erupted on October 8, 2023, following Hezbollah’s rocket attacks on Israeli territory in solidarity with Hamas amid the ongoing crisis in the Gaza Strip. The exchange of fire has intensified, leading to heightened tensions and an uncertain future for the region as the situation continues to develop.
