A “massive” airstrike on the Lebanese capital on Friday targeted the underground headquarters of Hezbollah, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) has announced.
Videos of thick black smoke rising in plumes from the Dahiyeh suburb of Beirut has been making rounds on Lebanese media and social networks.
IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told reporters on Friday that the Israeli military was responsible for the bombing and that its target was the main headquarters of the Shia militia, located underneath a civilian neighborhood.
Hagari would neither confirm nor deny the rumors that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was at the alleged headquarters when it was struck.
The strike came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the UN General Assembly. According to the Times of Israel, Netanyahu was in the middle of a press conference when his military aide, Major General Roman Gofman, whispered something in his ear. A few minutes later, the prime minister abruptly ended the briefing and left.
Netanyahu’s office later released a photo of the prime minister in his New York hotel room, reportedly issuing the order to strike the Hezbollah HQ.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Beirut described Friday’s bombing as “unprecedented, multiple, loud and successive explosions” that targeted an area where “hundreds of thousands of people live.”
The bombing came shortly after thousands of people had gathered in Dahiyeh for the funerals of three Hezbollah members killed by Israeli airstrikes on Thursday.
The IDF claimed to have killed Mohammad Hussein Srour, also known as Abu Saleh, the head of Hezbollah’s drone, cruise missile, and air-defense branch. The group eventually confirmed Srour’s death on Friday morning.
At least six buildings have collapsed following the Israeli airstrike, according to the TV channel Al-Arabiya. Meanwhile, the Iranian Tasnim News Agency has said that Nasrallah is alive and well, citing Lebanese security sources.