Lebanon’s Hezbollah group confirmed on Saturday that its leader and one of its founding members, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in a southern suburb of Beirut.
The killing of the powerful militant group’s longtime leader sent shockwaves throughout Lebanon and the Middle East, where he has been a dominant political and military figure for more than three decades.
Nasrallah has been on Israel’s kill list for decades. His assassination is by far the biggest and most consequential of Israel’s targeted killings in years. The Israeli military said it carried out a precise airstrike on Friday while Hezbollah leaders were meeting at their headquarters in Dahiyeh, south of Beirut.
Immediately after the confirmation from Hezbollah, people starting firing in the air in Beirut and across Lebanon to mourn Nasrallah’s death.
“Wish it was our kids, not you, Sayyid!†said one woman, using an honourific title for Nasrallah, as she clutched her baby in the western city of Baabda.
“We don’t believe he is killed," a woman draped in black, tearfully told al-Manar TV in Bekaa, western Lebanon. "We don’t. We left our homes and came here for him and for the resistance,â€
People check a damaged building at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Choueifat, south east of Beirut, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
In his first public remarks since the killing, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel's targeting of Nasrallah was “an essential condition to achieving the goals we set.â€
“He wasn’t another terrorist. He was the terrorist,†Netanyahu said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau used similar language in a statement acknowledging Nasrallah's death.
"He was the leader of a terrorist organization that attacked and killed innocent civilians, causing immense suffering across the region," Trudeau posted on the social media platform X.
He said Canada is working toward a "diplomatic solution" that would allow those displaced from both Israel and Lebanon to return home and repeated calls for a ceasefire.
"We stand with the Lebanese and Israeli people. They deserve to live in peace and security," his statement read.
Netanyahu said Nasrallah’s killing would help bring displaced Israelis back to their homes in the north and would pressure Hamas to free Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
“There is no place in Iran or in the Middle East that Israel’s long arm cannot reach. And today you know how much that is true,†he said.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said six people were killed and 91 injured in the strikes, which leveled six apartment buildings. Ali Karki, the commander of Hezbollah’s Southern Front and other commanders were also killed, the Israeli military said.
A statement from Hezbollah said Nasrallah — who led the group for more than three decades — “has joined his fellow martyrs.†The group vowed to “continue the holy war against the enemy and in support of Palestine.â€
Hezbollah started firing rockets on Israel in support of Gaza on Oct. 8, a day after Hamas militants launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing some 1,200 people and abducting another 250. Since then, the two sides have been engaged in escalating cross-border strikes.
Israel has vowed to step up pressure on Hezbollah until it halts its attacks that have displaced tens of thousands of Israelis from communities near the Lebanese border. The recent fighting has also displaced more than 200,000 Lebanese in the past week, according to the United Nations.
Earlier this month, thousands of explosives hidden in pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah detonated, killing dozens of people and maiming thousands, including many civilians. Israel is widely believed to be behind the attack. Israel has killed several other top Hezbollah commanders in Beirut, especially in the past two weeks, in addition to the attack that killed Nasrallah.
In Beirut’s southern suburbs, smoke rose and the streets were empty Saturday after the area was pummeled overnight by heavy Israeli airstrikes. Shelters set up in the city center for displaced people were overflowing. Many families slept in public squares and on beaches or in their cars. On the roads leading to the mountains above the capital, hundreds of people could be seen fleeing on foot, holding infants and whatever belongings they could carry.
Flames rise after an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
The Palestinian militant group Hamas sent condolences to its ally, Hezbollah, and said “assassinations will only increase the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine in determination and resolve.â€
News of Nasrallah's killing stunned travelers at Lebanon's only international airport, where hundreds of people were scrambling to leave the country despite limited flights. Some cried. Others talked on their phones in disbelief. One woman screamed: “No! It was just an announcement! No, he didn’t die!â€
Iran’s supreme leader announced five days of public mourning after Nasrallah's death. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called Nasrallah “the flag-bearer of resistance†in the region.
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Tehran after Nasrallah's killing was announced. Protesters chanted “Death to Israel†and “Death to Netanyahu the murderer†while waving Hezbollah flags.
In this Oct. 24, 2015 file photo, Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah addresses a crowd during the holy day of Ashoura, in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
Thomas Juneau, a professor at the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, said Iran will be under significant pressure to respond to Nasrallah’s killing without escalating violence in the region.
“Iran understands that its military options are limited, given the conventional military superiority of Israel and the U.S.†Juneau told The Associated Press.
Israel’s Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said Saturday that the elimination of Nasrallah was “not the end of our toolbox,†indicating that more strikes were planned. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called it “the most important targeted strike since the founding of the State of Israel.â€
The military said Saturday it was mobilizing three more battalions of reserve soldiers to serve across the country. It already sent two brigades to northern Israel to prepare for a possible ground invasion.
Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said Israel has inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah’s capabilities over the past week by targeting immediate threats and strategic weapons, such as larger, guided missiles. But he said much of Hezbollah’s arsenal remains intact and that Israel would continue to target the group.
Air raid sirens sounded across central Israel on Saturday afternoon, including at the Tel Aviv international airport, shortly after Netanyahu returned from a trip to the U.S.
Smoke rises as a building collapses in Beirut's southern suburbs, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
The Israeli military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen. Houthi rebels based in Yemen later said they were behind the attack targeting Ben Gurion Airport.
The Israeli military updated guidelines for Israeli citizens, canceling gatherings of more than 1,000 people due to the threat.
Approximately 60,000 Israelis have been evacuated from their homes along the Lebanese border for almost a year. This month, Israel's government said halting Hezbollah’s attacks in the country’s north to allow residents to return to their homes is an official goal.
Orna Mizrahi, a senior researcher at the Tel Aviv-based think tank Institute for National Security Studies and former intelligence analyst for the Israeli military and prime minister’s office, noted that Nasrallah was sometimes a “voice of reason,†interested in engaging Israel in a war of attrition and holding the militant group back from using the full force of their formidable arsenal against Israel.
Nasrallah's death could prompt some less senior members of Hezbollah to unleash much stronger weapons than have been used in the nearly yearlong exchange of hostilities, Mizrahi said. The biggest question mark right now, though, is how Iran will respond.
She said Nasrallah's death could provide a window of opportunity — while the organization is significantly weakened — for Lebanon to dilute Hezbollah’s influence, especially in the south, that threatens to drag Lebanon into a full-scale war with Israel.
On Saturday morning, the Israeli military carried out more than 140 airstrikes in southern Beirut and eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley, including targeting a storage facility for anti-ship missiles in Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh. Israel said the missiles were stored beneath civilian apartment buildings. Hezbollah launched dozens of projectiles across northern and central Israel and deep into the Israel-occupied West Bank, damaging some buildings in the northern town of Safed.
In Beirut’s southern suburbs, smoke rose and the streets were empty after the area was pummeled overnight by heavy Israeli airstrikes. Shelters set up in the city center for displaced people were overflowing. Many families slept in public squares and on beaches or in their cars. On the roads leading to the mountains above the capital, hundreds of people could be seen fleeing on foot, holding infants and whatever belongings they could carry.
A total of 1,030 people — including 156 women and 87 children — have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon in less than two weeks, the country’s health minister said Saturday.
Lidman reported from Tel Aviv. Associated Press writers Abby Sewell, Kareem Chehayeb and Ahmad Mousa in Beirut; Lujain Jo in Baabda, Lebanon; Nasser Karimi and Mehdi Fattahi in Tehran, Iran; and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report.
Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
The Israeli strike that killed Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah was a 'measure of justice' for victims of a four-decade 'reign of terror,' U.S. President Joe Biden said Saturday.
The CEO of the Ottawa Mission is responding to controversial comments made this week by Premier Doug Ford about those living in homeless encampments that received swift blowback from advocates.
Will Ferrell said in an interview with Variety that it was important for him to release his documentary, 'Will and Harper,' before the U.S. election so people could have conversations about trans people.
Massive rains from powerful Hurricane Helene left people stranded, without shelter and awaiting rescue Saturday, as the cleanup began from a tempest that killed at least 56 people, caused widespread destruction across the U.S. Southeast and left millions without power.
SpaceX launched a rescue mission for the two stuck astronauts at the International Space Station on Saturday, sending up a downsized crew to bring them home but not until next year.
Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge is set to make history by becoming the first openly lesbian cabinet minister to take parental leave when her wife gives birth in the coming weeks.
When a few weeks passed and Nana Prempeh still hadn’t heard from the guy she met on vacation, she turned to her friends for advice.
This Monday, Sept. 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (NDTR), a federal statutory holiday and day of remembrance for the Indigenous children who never came home from Canadian residential schools, as well as those who survived them.
WeightWatchers CEO Sima Sistani, who pushed the company into embracing weight-loss drugs, is leaving the position after a two-and-a-half year stint.
On Broughdale Ave, barricades kept students to the sidewalks, and on Huron, officers kept directing the young people away from the middle of the road for emergency vehicles.
Members of the Southern Georgian Bay OPP and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) are sounding the alarm on a rising number of online and phone scams targeting residents.
The Pride crosswalk in downtown Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., has been hit by vandalism for the second time in less than three months.
Vancouver police officers took a goat into custody Friday night.
Saskatchewan's Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) says it has determined that RCMP officers fired their guns, as it continues its investigation into a fatal incident on Fishing Lake First Nation that left a 34-year-old man dead.
The CEO of the Ottawa Mission is responding to controversial comments made this week by Premier Doug Ford about those living in homeless encampments that received swift blowback from advocates.
Newly emerged film footage of U.S. President John F. Kennedy's motorcade speeding down a Dallas freeway toward a hospital after he was fatally wounded sold at auction Saturday for US$137,500.
Russia's top diplomat warned Saturday against 'trying to fight to victory with a nuclear power,' delivering a UN General Assembly speech packed with condemnations of what Russia sees as Western machinations in Ukraine and elsewhere — including inside the United Nations itself.
For months, New York City Mayor Eric Adams — a former cop — refused to criticize the federal authorities investigating his administration. Not anymore.
Seventeen people, including 15 women, were killed in two mass shootings that took place in close proximity to each other in a rural town in South Africa, police said Saturday.
An explosion at a gas station in Russia’s southern region of Dagestan killed at least 13 people and injured 23 others, officials said Saturday.
A jury has ruled in favor of three women who alleged they were sexually abused while patients at a Virginia children's hospital, awarding them a total of US$300 million in damages.
Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge is set to make history by becoming the first openly lesbian cabinet minister to take parental leave when her wife gives birth in the coming weeks.
Defence Minister Bill Blair says there is a ship in place near Lebanon, as well as 150 deployed additional Canadian Armed Forces members prepared for a military-assisted departure of stranded Canadians, if more violence in the region requires it.
The Liberal party of today is not quite the same as the one elected in 2015 promising to foster new paths and nation-to-nation relationships with Indigenous Peoples, the leaders of the three national Indigenous organizations said as they look ahead to the fourth National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Monday.
A man from Alberta has been at the Medipal International Hospital in Kampala, Uganda for over two months with a hefty medical bill. He says he can’t leave until it’s been paid for.
More than 550 symptomatic people responded to an online questionnaire about a gastrointestinal illness at a Prince Edward Island shellfish festival last weekend.
A partial masking mandate has returned to Nova Scotia hospitals and provincially run healthcare facilities for visitors and healthcare workers.
Canadian innovators and technical leaders gathered in Ottawa Thursday to demonstrate the latest cutting-edge technology.
SpaceX launched a rescue mission for the two stuck astronauts at the International Space Station on Saturday, sending up a downsized crew to bring them home but not until next year.
Trees haven't grown on the Falkland Islands for thousands of years. But tree trunks and branches preserved in peat suggest the islands were once home to a forest.
Will Ferrell said in an interview with Variety that it was important for him to release his documentary, 'Will and Harper,' before the U.S. election so people could have conversations about trans people.
The Stratford Festival is remembering Dame Maggie Smith's impact on a local stage.
Ari Kinarthy never imagined he'd become the focus of photographers on a red carpet, back when he was a boy fighting to have fun.
The U.S. Department of Transportation said Friday it had fined Air Canada US$250,000 for operating flights in 2022 and 2023 in prohibited Iraqi airspace.
WeightWatchers CEO Sima Sistani, who pushed the company into embracing weight-loss drugs, is leaving the position after a two-and-a-half year stint.
Canada's gross domestic product expanded at a faster-than-expected 0.2 per cent rate in July, driven by growth in retail trade and public sectors, but the economy likely stalled in August, Statistics Canada data showed on Friday.
It's often said there is a thin line between love and hate, but is it OK to sometimes hate your long-term partner? If you ask actress Jamie Lee Curtis, it's practically necessary.
When a few weeks passed and Nana Prempeh still hadn’t heard from the guy she met on vacation, she turned to her friends for advice.
A pizza chain in Edmonton claims to have the world's largest deliverable pizza.
The United States has recaptured the lead at the Presidents Cup after a 3-1 third round of four-ball play at Royal Montreal Golf Club.
The Toronto Raptors have confirmed that Vince Carter's No. 15 will be the first number to be retired by the NBA franchise.
The Internationals stormed back with a 5-0 second-round shutout to tie the United States 5-5 in the overall score at the elite biennial men's golf tournament.
A tale about a taxicab hauling gold and sinking through the ice on Larder Lake, Ont., in December 1937 has captivated a man from that town for decades.
A U.S. driver somehow squeezed her vehicle through a parkade hallway at a Metro Vancouver casino Thursday, before getting stuck at an elevator bank.
More than 12,000 vehicles in Canada are included in two separate recalls by Toyota Motor Corp. and Mazda.
A tale about a taxicab hauling gold and sinking through the ice on Larder Lake, Ont., in December 1937 has captivated a man from that town for decades.
When a group of B.C. filmmakers set out on a small fishing boat near Powell River last week, they hoped to capture some video for a documentary on humpback whales. What happened next blew their minds.
A pizza chain in Edmonton claims to have the world's largest deliverable pizza.
Sarah McLachlan is returning to her hometown of Halifax in November.
Wayne MacKay is still playing basketball twice at Mount Allison University at 87 years old.
A man from a small rural Alberta town is making music that makes people laugh.
An Indigenous artist has a buyer-beware warning ahead of Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Police are looking to the public for help after thieves broke into a Lethbridge ice creamery, stealing from the store.
An ordinary day on the job delivering mail in East Elmwood quickly turned dramatic for Canada Post letter carrier Jared Plourde. A woman on his route was calling out in distress.
For decades, Melven Jones couldn’t talk about what happened to him as a child. He didn’t even remember it.
A Vancouver man has paid $337,500 to the B.C. Securities Commission as part of an insider trading settlement, the financial regulator announced Friday.
Almost 200 pages of research on the B.C. Conservative Party, which sources within BC United confirm were compiled by their party before it dropped out of the British Columbia election campaign to support its former rival, have come back to haunt the new alliance.
A man has serious injuries after being stabbed at a residence in north Scarborough on Saturday evening.
Thousands of dead birds, from kingfishers to blue jays, encircle a wild turkey to illustrate in one snapshot a mere fragment of how many die from colliding into glass windows – a death that can be easily prevented, the Torontonian photographer says.
A man has been taken to the hospital after walking into a restaurant in Toronto’s west end late Saturday afternoon with stab wounds.
Alberta's premier spoke to calls for an outside, independent investigation into the death of Jon Wells during an incident involving Calgary police last week.
A Calgary city councillor's plea to have permanent residents be given the right to vote in municipal elections, an idea long dismissed by Premier Danielle Smith as unconstitutional, has been defeated.
Safaa went to Lebanon looking to meet with a specialist for her Crohn's disease. Now, she and her four children are caught in the conflict between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah.
The victim has been identified as Chanel Charette, 33.
The CEO of the Ottawa Mission is responding to controversial comments made this week by Premier Doug Ford about those living in homeless encampments that received swift blowback from advocates.
The federal holiday on Sept. 30 will bring some schedule changes in Ottawa as Canada marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
World Wrestling Entertainment Hall-of-Famer Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon is the inspiration for a local wrestling production company that will bear his name host events on Montreal's West Island to raise money and create memories for sick children.
A commemorative rally marking the fourth anniversary of Joyce Echaquan’s death will take place in Ville-Marie on Saturday afternoon.
Members of Montreal’s Maghrebi community are gathering in a city park this afternoon to sound the alarm about what they call the “scourge†of street gangs recruiting youth to carry out criminal acts.
Alberta’s government is getting pushback from some municipal leaders and support from others over its plan to build the sheriffs into a second provincial police service.
Lebanon's Hezbollah group confirmed on Saturday that its leader and one of its founders, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut the previous day
A northern Alberta woman is hoping her family's history can help reunite Indigenous families with loved ones who died at the Charles Camsell Indian hospital in Edmonton.
Communities that suffered total losses in Hammonds Plains, N.S., and Upper Tantallon, N.S., in the 2023 wildfire received a donation of trees from Northern Pulp on Saturday.
Education and infrastructure were the focus of promises made on the tenth day of New Brunswick’s provincial election campaign.
RCMP Halifax Regional Detachment say they have charged a man with multiple offences, including assaulting a peace officer with a weapon, following a disturbance in Beaver Bank, N.S.
As the temperatures begin to drop and the leaves change colour, the time for fall suppers has returned in Manitoba.
Hundreds gathered in Winnipeg’s Memorial Park Saturday afternoon in a solemn ceremony honouring the lives of fallen firefighters.
A beloved annual celebration of arts and culture returns to city streets Saturday night.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders moved into second place in the CFL's West Division with a 29-16 victory over the Ottawa Redblacks on Saturday.
Minister of Health Everett Hindley wrote to healthcare provider unions on Friday inviting them to join a nursing task force, something the government previously said no to.
Fans of the undead can take part in Regina’s annual Zombie Walk on Sunday afternoon.
It’s homecoming weekend for many students and alumni and preparations are underway to ensure it’s a safe celebratory weekend.
People in Guelph may notice a new addition at the entrance to Franchetto Park in Guelph.
The Kitchener Rangers returned to the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium on Friday to the roar of thousands of eager fans.
Saskatchewan RCMP says the man who sustained injuries from a serious assault earlier this month has died in hospital.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders moved into second place in the CFL's West Division with a 29-16 victory over the Ottawa Redblacks on Saturday.
Minister of Health Everett Hindley wrote to healthcare provider unions on Friday inviting them to join a nursing task force, something the government previously said no to.
A tale about a taxicab hauling gold and sinking through the ice on Larder Lake, Ont., in December 1937 has captivated a man from that town for decades.
It's often said there is a thin line between love and hate, but is it OK to sometimes hate your long-term partner? If you ask actress Jamie Lee Curtis, it's practically necessary.
The CEO of the Ottawa Mission is responding to controversial comments made this week by Premier Doug Ford about those living in homeless encampments that received swift blowback from advocates.
On Broughdale Ave, barricades kept students to the sidewalks, and on Huron, officers kept directing the young people away from the middle of the road for emergency vehicles.
For 28 years, motorcycle riders have gathered at Hully Gully in London, Ont. to raise money for the Children’s Health Foundation (CHF) and enjoy a fall ride.
The town of Aylmer might be getting a little bit larger - it's considering expanding boundaries to include more land, and they’re holding a meeting on Thursday
Huntsville OPP is investigating a two-vehicle collision Friday afternoon that resulted in the death of a motorcycle driver.
Midland Fire Service, Southern Georgian Bay OPP and County of Simcoe paramedics responded to an early Saturday morning fire at a residence in Midland, which sent one person to hospital.
Two drivers were charged after a vehicle struck a house in northern Barrie Friday evening.
Windsor Fire Service is on the scene of a house fire in South Windsor this morning. A single-family dwelling was reported to have been the location of an early morning fire.
A collision on Friday evening has resulted in charges for a 32-year-old Lakeshore Resident.
Students looking for work while they study had an opportunity to scope out the local employment scene on Wednesday when St. Clair College held its second annual part time job fair.
For decades, Melven Jones couldn’t talk about what happened to him as a child. He didn’t even remember it.
Almost 200 pages of research on the B.C. Conservative Party, which sources within BC United confirm were compiled by their party before it dropped out of the British Columbia election campaign to support its former rival, have come back to haunt the new alliance.
A strike by grain terminal workers at the Port of Metro Vancouver has ended, their employer announced Friday night.
Fire crews in Vernon, B.C., responded to a large house fire early Saturday morning.
A pair of runaway pigs are in the custody of an animal sanctuary in the Okanagan after evading police and volunteers for hours earlier this week.
The Red Bridge, a historic landmark in Kamloops, B.C., was completely destroyed by fire early Thursday morning.
The sentencing for three men convicted of helping lead and coordinate the COVID-19 protest blockade at Coutts, Alta., in 2022 has been delayed.
A 10-year-old boy from Lethbridge is being praised as a hero after a routine summer outing at the pool nearly turned tragic for his friend.
A man and woman have been charged after a Lethbridge ice creamery was broken into earlier this week. Staff arrived at Cookie Crimes, in the 300 block of Sixth Street South, just before 5:30 a.m. on Monday to discover the front window broken.
Sault residents may notice some commotion on the Algoma University campus over the next two weeks as a team conducts an archaeological search.
The Pride crosswalk in downtown Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., has been hit by vandalism for the second time in less than three months.
Despite a lead at mid-game in front of a near-capacity home crowd, the Sudbury Wolves dropped their first game of their OHL regular season to Barrie, 3-1.
A soccer game in England on Tuesday night drove a spike in online traffic across the Atlantic to a website launched by the Newfoundland and Labrador government.
Newfoundland and Labrador sponsored a minor football team in England, now they’re about to play one of the biggest clubs in European soccer.
Newfoundland and Labrador's chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at Â鶹´«Ã½. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us.
