Israel attacks Lebanon: Hezbollah confirms killing of leader Nasrallah

Hezbollah has confirmed the killing of its leader Hassan Nasrallah in a massive air attack on a densely populated neighbourhood of Beirut on Friday evening that reduced several residential buildings to rubble.

As Israel continues its bombing campaign, the Lebanese group says it will continue to confront Israel in support of Gaza and in defence of Lebanon.

US orders some Beirut embassy staff members to leave Lebanon

The US Department of State ordered some employees at its embassy in Beirut and family members to leave Lebanon following the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah by Israel.

The State Department also urged Americans in the country to leave, warning the currently limited options to depart might become unavailable if the security situation worsens.

“Due to the increased volatility following air strikes within Beirut and the volatile and unpredictable security situation throughout Lebanon, the US embassy urges US citizens to depart Lebanon while commercial options still remain available,” it said.

Houthis say they fired ballistic missile at Tel Aviv airport

In a statement from the group’s military spokesperson says its forces launched an attack on Ben Gurion airport amid the arrival of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“The operation was carried out with a Palestine 2 ballistic missile,” the group said.

We’ll bring you more as further information becomes available.

Iran wants to avoid ‘larger war’ with the United States

Analyst Trita Parsi says Iran’s unwillingness to relieve the military pressure on Hezbollah stems from Tehran’s belief that Israel is seeking a “much larger war”.

“[Iran thinks] the minute the Iranians step in, that larger war would be a reality because the US would also then step in at that point. This is part of the reason why they’re not going in that direction,” Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute, told Al Jazeera.

The new government of President Masoud Pezeshkian is prioritising a policy of “national reconciliation” in the country, he said.

“They recognise clearly the tremendous anger that exists in society against the government for its many failures and for its repression. A war at this moment is not something that in any way, shape or form will move that reconciliation in the right direction,” said Parsi.

Houthi leader says Nasrallah’s death ‘will not be wasted’

The leader of Yemen’s Houthis vowed the death of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah “will not be in vain”.

“These great sacrifices and great injustice will not be wasted,” Abdul Malik al-Houthi said in a televised speech. He added his fighters were directed towards “improving performance” after previous missile and drone strikes against Israel.

The Iran-aligned group pledged on Friday to continue its attacks on Israel until its “aggression on Lebanon and Gaza stops” after it emerged that its attempt to hit Tel Aviv had been foiled by air defences.

Who was Hassan Nasrallah?

Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader killed by Israel, has a mixed legacy: loved, loathed and feared.

Hassan Nasrallah was a Lebanese cleric and the secretary-general of Hezbollah, a Shia Islamist political party and militant group. Born into a Shia family in the suburbs of Beirut in 1960, Nasrallah finished his education in Tyre, when he briefly joined the Amal Movement, and afterward at a Shia seminary in Baalbek.

AL JAZEERA