Israel attacks Hezbollah with a massive explosion that targets the militant group's leader

BEIRUT (AP) — The Israeli military said it hit Hezbollah's headquarters in Beirut on Friday in a series of massive explosions that targeted Hezbollah's leader the militant group and several high-rise residential buildings were razed to the ground.

According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, at least six people were killed and 91 injured. It was the largest explosion to rock the Lebanese capital in the past year, and it seemed like it was going to happen drive the escalating conflict closer to full-scale war.

Leader of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah was the target of the attacks, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity, including a U.S. official. The Israeli army declined to comment on who it targeted. It was not immediately clear whether Nasrallah was at the scene, and Hezbollah did not comment on the report.

The death toll is expected to rise significantly as teams comb through the rubble of six buildings. After the first explosion, Israel launched a series of attacks on other areas of the southern suburbs.

After the attacks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly cut short his visit to the United States and returned home. Hours earlier, he spoke at the United Nations: vowed to intensify Israel's campaign The attacks on Hezbollah over the last two weeks would continue – and continue dim hopes for one internationally supported ceasefire.

News of the explosions came as Netanyahu was briefing reporters after his UN address. A military aide whispered something in his ear and Netanyahu quickly ended the meeting.

Israeli army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the attacks targeted Hezbollah's headquarters, located underground beneath residential buildings.

According to the Lebanese National News Agency, the series of explosions around nightfall reduced six residential towers to rubble in Haret Hreik, a densely populated, predominantly Shiite district in the Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh. About 30 kilometers north of Beirut, a wall of black and orange smoke rose into the sky as windows rattled and houses shook.

Footage showed rescuers climbing over large concrete slabs surrounded by tall piles of twisted metal and debris. Several craters could be seen, and a car had overturned in one. A stream of residents carrying their belongings were seen fleeing the district along a main road.

Israel did not immediately comment on the type of bomb or the number of bombs used, but the resulting explosion destroyed an area larger than a city block. The Israeli army has 2,000-pound American-made “Bunker Buster” guided bombs specifically designed to attack underground targets.

Richard Weir, crisis and weapons researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the explosions were consistent with that class of bomb.

The Israeli Air Force followed suit early Saturday with a new series of attacks in the southern suburbs, shortly after ordering residents of three buildings to evacuate. They were said to be used by Hezbollah to hide weapons, including anti-ship missiles.

Israel's military announced further attacks on Beqaa in eastern Lebanon and Tire in the south.

On a scale unseen in previous conflicts, Israel spent the week pushing for elimination The leadership of Hezbollah. But an attempt to assassinate Nasrallah – whether successful or not – would represent a major escalation. The Pentagon said the US had no warning of the attacks.

Nasrallah has been in hiding for years and rarely appears in public. He regularly gives lectures, but always via video from unknown locations.

The site hit Friday evening was not publicly known as Hezbollah's headquarters, although it is in the group's “security headquarters,” a heavily guarded part of Haret Hreik where it has offices and operates several nearby hospitals.

Four hours after the attack, Hezbollah had still not issued a statement on the matter. Instead, it announced that it had fired a volley of rockets into the Israeli city of Safed, which it said was “in defense of Lebanon and its people and in response to barbaric Israeli violence against cities, villages and civilians.”

The Israeli military said a house and a car in Safed were hit, and officials said a 68-year-old woman suffered minor shrapnel wounds.

Israel dramatically increased its air strikes in Lebanon This week it said it was committed to ending more than 11 months of shelling of its territory by Hezbollah. More than 720 people have been killed in Lebanon in the escalated campaign, including dozens of women and children, according to Health Ministry statistics. Nine members of the same family were killed in a predawn strike in the predominantly Sunni border town of Chebaa on Friday, the state news agency said.

According to the United Nations, the fighting has displaced 211,000 people, including 85,000 who are now housed in public schools and other shelters. Airstrikes forced 20 primary health care centers to close and affected access to clean water for nearly 300,000 people.

The scope of the Israeli operation remains unclear, but officials said a Ground invasion There is a possibility of driving the militant group away from the border. In preparation, Israel moved thousands of troops towards the border.

At the United Nations, Netanyahu vowed to “continue to degrade” Hezbollah until Israel achieves its goals. His comments dampened hopes of one US-backed call for a 21-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah to allow time for a diplomatic solution. Hezbollah has not responded to the proposal.

Iran-backed Hezbollah, the strongest force in Lebanon, began firing rockets at Israel almost immediately after Hamas's Oct. 7 attack, saying it was a show of support for the Palestinians. Since then, there have been almost daily firefights with the Israeli military, forcing tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border to flee their homes.

An Israeli security official said he expects the campaign against Hezbollah will not last as long as it has so far War in Gazabecause the military's goals are much narrower.

In Gaza, Israel wants to overthrow Hamas' military and political regime, but in Lebanon the goal is to push Hezbollah from the border – “not a high bar like Gaza” in terms of operational objectives, said the official, who was at the website spoke on condition of anonymity due to military briefing guidelines.

In the southern Lebanese city of Tire, civil defense forces recovered the bodies of two women – 35-year-old Hiba Ataya and her mother Sabah Olyan – from the rubble of a building destroyed by a strike.

“This is Sabah, these are her clothes, my love,” a man shouted as her body emerged.

Israel says its accelerated attacks have already inflicted severe damage on Hezbollah's weapons capabilities and fighters. An attack on Tuesday in southern Lebanon killed the commander of a Hezbollah missile unit, Muhammad Ali Ismail, and his deputy, the Israeli military said Saturday. There was no immediate confirmation from Hezbollah.

But Hezbollah had a large arsenal of rockets and missiles and its remaining capabilities are unknown.

Hezbollah officials and their supporters remain defiant. Shortly before Friday night's explosions, thousands gathered in another part of Beirut's suburbs for the funeral of three Hezbollah members killed in previous attacks, including the head of the group's drone unit, Mohammed Surour.

People in the huge crowd waved their fists in the air and chanted: “We will never accept humiliation” as they marched behind the three coffins, draped in the group's yellow flag.

Hussein Fadlallah, Hezbollah's top official in Beirut, said in a speech that no matter how many commanders Israel kills, the group has an infinite number of experienced fighters. He promised that Hezbollah would continue fighting until Israel stopped its offensive in Gaza.

“We will not give up supporting Palestine, Jerusalem and the oppressed Gaza Strip,” Fadlallah said. “There is no place for neutrality in this fight.”

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AP writer Tia Goldenberg at the United Nations; Abby Sewell in Beirut; Aamer Madhani in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware; and Zeina Karam in London contributed to this report.