2024 Hezbollah headquarters strike
| Hezbollah headquarters strike | |
|---|---|
| Part of the September 2024 Lebanon strikes | |
Smoke rising from the Beirut suburbs after the airstrikes | |
| Type | Airstrike, targeted killing |
| Location | Haret Hreik, Dahieh, Lebanon 33°51′5″N 35°30′14″E / 33.85139°N 35.50389°E |
| Target | Hassan Nasrallah |
| Date | 27 September 2024 |
| Executed by | Israeli Air Force |
| Casualties | 33+ (including Nasrallah) killed 195+ injured |
On 27 September 2024, Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut. The strike took place while Hezbollah leaders were meeting at a headquarters located 60 feet (18 m) underground beneath residential buildings in Haret Hreik in the Dahieh suburb. Conducted by the Israeli Air Force using F-15I fighters, the operation involved dropping more than 80 bombs, destroying the underground headquarters as well as nearby buildings. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) codenamed the operation "New Order" (Hebrew: סדר חדש, romanized: Seder Hadash).
On 28 September 2024, the IDF announced Nasrallah's death; his body was recovered from the rubble the next day. The attack resulted in at least 33 fatalities and more than 195 injuries, including civilians. The fatalities included: Ali Karaki, the commander of Hezbollah's Southern Front; other senior Hezbollah commanders; and Abbas Nilforoushan, deputy commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and commander of the Quds Force in Lebanon.
Earlier in September, some of Hezbollah's most severe setbacks occurred, including the 17 and 18 September explosions of its handheld communication devices and the 20 September assassination of Ibrahim Aqil, commander of the elite Redwan Force. Between 23 September, when Israel began its airstrikes on Lebanon, and 26 September, the day before the headquarters strike, Israeli attacks had killed over 700 people, injured more than 5,000, and displaced hundreds of thousands of Lebanese civilians. On 27 September, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations (UN), saying Israel was dedicated to peace, but would continue to pursue its ongoing campaign against Hezbollah. The headquarters strike occurred after Netanyahu concluded his speech.
Lebanese prime minister Najib Mikati condemned this and prior Israeli attacks on Lebanon, denouncing the ongoing Israeli attacks as "a war of extermination". On 27 November, a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon went into effect, although several violations have since occurred.