An Israeli official has said that the IDF believes that Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah was inside of the compound hit in a Beruit airstrike earlier and that anyone inside would " have a hard time getting out alive".
The Israel Hebrew language newspaper Maariv Online tweeted: " The IDF assesses: Hassan Nasrallah has been eliminated."
A series of gigantic blasts at around nightfall reduced six buildings to rubble in the Haret Hreik neighbourhood of Beirut's Dahiyeh suburbs, according to Lebanon's national news agency. It's understood Israeli forces were targeting a key Hezbollah site in the city.
Axios reporter Barak Ravid posted in Hebrew: "Senior Israeli: There are indications that Nasrallah was in the compound that was attacked. Those who were there have a very small chance of getting out alive."
He added in a separate post: " Two senior Israeli officials said that the first discussion on the possibility of eliminating Nasrallah took place on Wednesday before Netanyahu's trip to the United Nations.
"According to them, it was decided to wait for an operational opportunity and it arrived today. Take him out of the decision-making picture."
According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, other high-level Hezbollah figures are said to have been killed in the attack including the commander of the southern front in the organisation, Ali Karchi, and the commander of the Quds Force in Syria and Lebanon, Nilfroishian, was said to have been killed in the attack.
IDF Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in an address today (Fri) the compound targeted was beneath residential buildings, but it was at the centre of Hezbollah terror operations.
He said: "Hezbollah's central headquarters was intentionally built under residential buildings in the heart of the Dahiyeh in Beirut as part of Hezbollah's strategy of using Lebanese people as human shields."
The Jerusalem Post reports Iranian Tasnim News Agency claims Nasrallah survived the airstrike and the paper claims another Hezbollah source has supported this assessment.
The shock wave from the explosions rattled windows and shook houses some 18 miles north of Beirut. TV footage showed several craters, one with a car toppled into it, amid collapsed buildings in the densely populated, predominantly Shiite area.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly cut short a visit to the United States and was returning home instead of waiting until the end of Sabbath on Saturday evening, his office said.
Hours earlier, Netanyahu addressed the UN, vowing that Israel's campaign against Hezbollah would continue, further dimming hopes for an internationally backed cease-fire.
More than 720 people have been killed in Lebanon this week, according to Lebanon's health ministry. Israel has dramatically escalated strikes, saying it is targeting Hezbollah's military capacities and senior Hezbollah commanders.
Top Israeli officials have threatened to repeat the destruction of Gaza in Lebanon if the Hezbollah fire continues, raising fears that Israel's actions in Gaza after the terrorist massacre by Hamas on October 7 would be repeated in Lebanon.
