Israel bombs Beirut: As it happened

An anonymous US official has told ABC News that Israel is preparing to follow up its air campaign with a “limited” ground operation in Lebanon. Rumors of an impending ground operation have circulated for several days, with Israel’s KAN broadcaster reporting that Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met with troops training for such a mission on Tuesday.

Israel last sent troops into Lebanon during a large-scale war with Hezbollah in 2006. The IDF lost more than 120 soldiers in the operation, roughly half the number of fatalities suffered by Hezbollah.

A Hezbollah missile has struck East Jerusalem, according to footage captured by Palestinian media. The IDF has said that it detected a single missile fired toward an Israeli settlement east of the city, but provided no further details. Additional footage shot from near the blast site shows a large fire burning.

In his first public statement since Nasrallah’s death, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said eliminating the Hezbollah leader was an “essential condition” for securing the safe return of civilians to Israel’s border regions.

Nasrallah and his commanders were “the architects of the plan to destroy Israel,” Netanyahu claimed, “so I gave the order and Nasrallah is no longer with us.”

US Vice President Kamala Harris has promised to “always support Israel’s right to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis,” in a statement carbon-copied from one put out by the White House earlier on Saturday.

Harris, who is the Democratic Party’s nominee for president, has been criticized by pro- and anti-Israel groups in the US. Her opponent, former President Donald Trump, has accused her of favoring the Palestinian side, while Muslim groups have criticized her for not pressing more strongly for a ceasefire.

Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the leader of Yemen’s Houthi movement, has vowed that Nasrallah’s death “will not be in vain,” and that his forces will be “improving [the] performance” of their attacks on Israel, Al Jazeera has reported.

The Houthis have launched around four dozen missiles and drones at Israel and Israel-lined vessels in the Persian Gulf this week, including a ballistic missile that was intercepted by Israeli air defense near Tel Aviv earlier on Saturday.

The IDF has conducted another series of airstrikes near Beirut’s international airport. Lebanese security sources told AFP that the strikes targeted a warehouse, while footage shared on social media showed smoke rising from the impact site.

The White House has released a statement describing Nasrallah’s death as “a measure of justice for his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis, and Lebanese civilians.”

The statement reiterated that the US “fully supports Israel’s right to defend itself against Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and any other Iranian-supported terrorist groups,” before claiming that Washington seeks “to de-escalate the ongoing conflicts in both Gaza and Lebanon.”

Both US President Joe Biden and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin have claimed that Israel gave them no advance warning of the airstrike that killed Nasrallah.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has condemned Israel for carrying out “yet another political assassination,” referring to the strike that killed Nasrallah.

“This forceful action is fraught with even greater dramatic consequences for Lebanon and the entire Middle East,” the ministry said, adding that Israel “bears full responsibility for the subsequent escalation.”

Hassan Nasrallah’s cousin, Hashem Safieddine, who plays a key role in Hezbollah’s political activities, could be named as the Lebanon-based Shia militia’s new leader, the New York Times has reported, citing three senior Israeli defense officials.

Moscow “resolutely condemns” Israeli attacks that “blatantly violate the sovereignty of… Lebanon,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a UN Security Council meeting on Friday. The developments put the entire Middle East on the brink of a “big war,” he warned, adding that Russia calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities and is making diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the situation.