Who is Hassan Nasrallah – the Hezbollah leader killed by Israel?
Hassan Nasrallah was killed in the latest Israeli attacks on the Lebanese capital, according to Israel.
A passionate and fiery orator, Nasrallah was the leader of the Shia political and military faction Hezbollah.
The secretary general of Hezbollah is considered by many to be the single most powerful individual in Lebanon with as many as 100,000 fighters at his disposal and members of his group being MPs as well.
A picture of Hassan Nasrallah during a funeral for a Hezbollah member. Pic: Reuters
Nasrallah was born in Beirut in 1960, where he was described as a devout and motivated student of Islam.
He joined Hezbollah in 1982, the year it was formed and rose through its ranks.
The 64-year-old has led Hezbollah into wars against Israel and taken part in the conflict in neighbouring Syria.
Under his leadership, the group has been transformed from a mainly military force into a major political player in Lebanon with elected MPs.
Nasrallah cemented Hezbollah as an arch-enemy of Israel, seeking deeper alliances with Shia religious leaders in Iran and Palestinian militant groups like Hamas.
Nasrallah holds the title of Sayyed, an honorific meant to signify the Shia cleric’s lineage dating back to the Prophet Muhammad.
Nasrallah has countless followers across the Arab and Islamic world, but he is viewed as an extremist in much of the West.
People watch Nasrallah delivering a televised address in Beirut. Pic: Reuters
In the present day, his relevance is not confined to Lebanon and he is the most influential leader within Iran’s Axis of Resistance and his death would be a big blow to all of the groups involved.
Despite the power he wields, Nasrallah lives in hiding for fear of an Israeli assassination attempt.
After the most recent attack, many of his followers will fear that that worry has become a reality.
Despite rapid statements that Nasrallah was “safe” there has not been an update since, and there is confusion over the fate of the Hezbollah leader.
The blast site is so large, it will take time for rescue workers to find the dead. The number of civilians killed is likely to rise considerably.
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How did he rise to power?
Born to a poor Shia family in Beirut’s impoverished suburb of Sharshabouk, Nasrallah was later displaced to south Lebanon.
After studying theology, he joined the Amal movement, a political and paramilitary organisation, before joining Hezbollah in the year it was created.
Hezbollah was formed by Iranian Revolutionary Guard members who travelled to Lebanon in the summer of 1982 to fight invading Israeli forces.
They achieved their goal of ending the occupation of southern Lebanon years later, but have continued their battle and still seek the destruction of Israel.
Pic: Reuters
Hezbollah was the first group that Iran backed and used as a vehicle to export its brand of politics.
Two days after its then leader, 39-year-old Sayyed Abbas Musawi, was killed in an Israeli helicopter gunship raid in south Lebanon, Hezbollah chose Nasrallah as its new secretary general in February 1992.
Under Nasrallah’s leadership, Hezbollah is credited with leading the war of attrition that led to the withdrawal of Israeli troops from south Lebanon in 2000.
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After this victory, his status rose and was further cemented in 2006 when Hezbollah fought Israel to a stalemate during the 34-day war.
However, his popularity took a hit when Syria’s civil war erupted in 2011 and Hezbollah fighters rushed in and sided with Assad’s forces – even as he was ostracised by the Arab world.
Role in the Israel-Hamas war
A day after the 7 October attacks in Israel, Hezbollah began attacking Israeli military posts along the border and calling it a “backup front” for Gaza.
Tit-for-tat strikes have been traded almost daily since, and over the past weeks, as tensions have risen further, Nasrallah has tried to strike a defiant tone even as Israel strikes again and again at his organisation.
After Israel announced a new phase in the conflict looking toward its northern border, a series of pager and radio explosions rocked Lebanon, seemingly aimed at Hezbollah members.
They kickstarted the most recent waves of attacks on Lebanon.
Israel has approved a plan to capture all of the Gaza Strip and remain there for an unspecified length of time, Israeli officials say.
According to Reuters, the plan includes distributing aid, though supplies will not be let in yet.
The Israeli official told the agency that the newly approved offensive plan would move Gaza’s civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas’s hands.
On Sunday, the United Nations rejected what it said was a new plan for aid to be distributed in what it described as Israeli hubs.
Israeli cabinet ministers approved plans for the new offensive on Monday morning, hours after it was announced that tens of thousands of reserve soldiers are being called up.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far failed to achieve his goal of destroying Hamas or returning all the hostages, despite more than a year of brutal war in Gaza.
Palestinian children struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza. Pic: AP
Officials say the plan will help with these war aims but it would also push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.
They said the plan included the “capturing of the strip and the holding of territories”.
It would also try to prevent Hamas from distributing humanitarian aid, which Israel says strengthens the group’s rule in Gaza.
The UN rejected the plan, saying it would leave large parts of the population, including the most vulnerable, without supplies.
It said it “appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy”.
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More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since the IDF launched its ground offensive in the densely-populated territory, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
It followed the deadly Hamas attacks on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
A fragile ceasefire that saw a pause in the fighting and the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners collapsed earlier this year.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate against the Houthis and their Iranian “masters” after the group launched a missile attack on the country’s main international airport.
A missile fired by the group from Yemen landed near Ben Gurion Airport, causing panic among passengers in the terminal building.
“Attacks by the Houthis emanate from Iran,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X. “Israel will respond to the Houthi attack against our main airport AND, at a time and place of our choosing, to their Iranian terror masters.”
Israeli police officers investigate the missile crater. Pic: Reuters
The missile impact left a plume of smoke and briefly halted flights and commuter traffic at the airport. Some international carriers have cancelled flights to and from Tel Aviv for several days.
Four people were lightly wounded, paramedic service Magen David Adom said.
Air raid sirens went off across Israel and footage showed passengers yelling and rushing for cover.
The attack came hours before senior Israeli cabinet ministers were set to vote on whether to intensify the country’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, and as the army began calling up thousands of reserves in anticipation of a wider operation in the enclave.
Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree said the group fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at the airport.
Iran’s defence minister later told a state TV broadcaster that if the country was attacked by the US or Israel, it would target their bases, interests and forces where necessary.
Israel’s military said several attempts to intercept the missile were unsuccessful.
Air, road and rail traffic were halted after the attack, police said, though it resumed around an hour later.
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Yemen’s Houthis have been firing missiles at Israel since its war with Hamas in Gaza began on 7 October 2023, and while most have been intercepted, some have penetrated the country’s missile defence systems and caused damage.
Israel has previously struck the group in Yemen in retaliation and the US and UK have also launched strikes after the Houthis began attacking international shipping, saying it was in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war with Hamas.
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