Hezbollah head targeted in huge Beirut attack

Israel has launched its biggest attack yet on Beirut which levelled several buildings and was reportedly aimed at Hezbollah’s chief.

Israel has conducted its biggest military strike on Beirut in years reportedly in an effort to kill the head of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah.

Australia has designated Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon and backed by Iran, as a terror group.

Two people have died and 76 injured so far, but given how densely populated Beirut’s suburbs are it’s possible there could be more casualties.

The attack, on Friday evening in Lebanon, came just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a defiant speech at the United Nations in New York defending its military operation and with no mention of a ceasefire.

He reportedly ordered the strike from New York which will likely further anger countries, such as the US, which have been calling for a cessation in hostilities.

An Israeli official told US network NBC that it is expecting a “major retaliatory attack” from Hezbollah.

The Iranian embassy in Beirut has said that Israel’s attack is a “dangerous game-changing escalation,” and it woudl be “punished appropriately”.

Smoke rises above Beirut's southern suburbs during an Israeli strike on September 27, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Huge plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the scene of the attack above Beirut.

“The Israeli strikes levelled six buildings,” the source said, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media, reported AFP.

Israel said it had carried out “a precise strike” on the Hezbollah dominated suburb of Dahieh in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has accused Hezbollah of having its main operation based there sited beneath residential buildings.

It said it was targeting the central headquarters of Hezbollah. Israeli TV networks have said the target was Nasrallah, who has given fiery speeches denouncing Israel’s actions.

However Reuters has quotes Hezbollah sources that have said Nasrallah was “alive and “fine”.

Hezbollah’s chief Hassan Nasrallah was said to be the target of the attack (Photo by Al-Manar / AFP)

People watch as a blaze rages amid the smouldering rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli air strike in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 27, 2024. (Photo by Fadel ITANI / AFP)

‘Complete decimation’

In a statement at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday, local time, foreign minister Penny Wong said there was an “alarming escalation” in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

“Australia made clear we are doing our voice to the call for ceasefire in Lebanon, as well as Gaza,” Ms Wong said with her Lebanese counterpart Dr Abdallah Bou Habib.

The UN itself said it was “alarmed” by Israeli strikes on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut.

“The UN is watching with great alarm” the strikes on Beirut, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told a briefing.

Lebanon’s health minister Firass Abiad said the site of the strike was “complete decimation”.

“They are residential buildings. They were filled with people. Whoever is in those buildings is now under the rubble.”

People and firefighters gather at the scene of Israeli air strikes. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)

There could be many casualties in densely packed Beirut. (Photo by Ibrahim AMRO / AFP)

Earlier on Friday, US time, Mr Netanyahu gave an impassioned speech at the United Nations in New York which failed to mention a ceasefire that Washington DC and many other countries are pushing for.

A clearly annoyed US has said that the ceasefire which Mr Netanyahu is ignoring was actually co-ordinated with Israel.

Mr Netanyahu told the UN Israel would continue Lebanon strikes “until we meet our objectives“. Those have been laid out as the safe return of residents to Israeli communities on the border with Lebanon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Frdiay. (Photo by STEPHANIE KEITH / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

The Israeli government released an image of Mr Netanyahu at his desk in a New York hotel on the phone. It said the photo was of the PM ordering the strike.

Mr Netanyahu has said he will cut short his US trip and return to Israel following his UN speech.

US officials have said Israel only informed DC of the strike while the operation was in progress.

“We had no foreknowledge of this and that does not qualify as a heads up,” said a Pentagon official, reported CNN.