The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah confirmed on Saturday, the assassination of its Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, in Israeli raids that targeted the headquarters of the group’s central command in the southern suburb of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Friday evening.
The Israeli occupation army continued its aggression on Lebanon for the sixth consecutive day, through raids on various towns and regions, which led to the killing of more than 701 people, and the wounding of more than 2173 others, amid a large wave of displacement to areas deep inside Lebanon and to Syrian territory.
The Israeli occupation army said that its warplanes dropped about 85 bunker-busting bombs, each weighing a tonne, to assassinate Nasrallah, adding that its forces “are focusing on eliminating threats of terrorist attacks, including guided missiles that may target strategic points.”
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called for an emergency meeting of the Supreme National Security Council at his home to discuss the response to the Israeli strike in Beirut that targeted Nasrallah, according to The New York Times.
Moreover, the Anadolu Agency also reported, citing sources in the Lebanese Ministry of Transport, that the ministry had instructed Beirut Airport to ask an Iranian civilian plane not to enter Lebanese airspace after Israeli threats to target it if it landed at the airport. The sources explained that the occupation army had hacked the frequencies of the Beirut Airport control tower and threatened to target the plane.
Lebanese Minister of Public Works and Transport Ali Hamieh denied on Saturday the Israeli allegations that Beirut International Airport was being used to deliver weapons to Hezbollah. Hamieh told the Lebanese Al-Jadeed TV that Beirut Airport is “exclusively civilian,” adding that “the movement of military aircraft at Beirut Airport is subject to the exclusive approval of the Lebanese Army.”
In Tehran, the Iranian parliament’s Security and Foreign Policy Committee stressed “the need to respond firmly and make the Zionist entity regret its crimes.” Reuters quoted informed sources as saying that “Iran is in constant contact with Hezbollah and its other regional allies to determine the next step.”
In Beirut, the Lebanese Prime Minister’s office said that the government will hold an extraordinary session this evening to discuss current developments.
In a related context, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said that hospitals in the southern suburbs of Beirut will evacuate their patients, the day after heavy Israeli raids, calling on hospitals in the rest of the regions to stop receiving non-emergency cases until the end of the next week.
In a statement on Saturday, the ministry called on “hospitals in Beirut, Mount Lebanon, and areas not affected by the Israeli aggression to stop receiving non-emergency cold cases until the end of next week in order to make room for those wounded in the southern suburbs of Beirut, which will be evacuated due to developments in the aggression.”
