Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, editor of the FT, selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.

The Israeli army said on Saturday morning it had killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in a massive attack on Beirut, the latest in a series of devastating blows for the Lebanese militant group.

“Hassan Nasrallah. . . was eliminated by the Israeli army, along with Ali Karki, the commander of Hezbollah’s Southern Front, and more Hezbollah commanders,” the Israeli army announced.

The attack ended a dramatic escalation by Israel in recent weeks that has taken a heavy toll on Hezbollah’s capabilities and fueled fears that years-long hostilities between the two sides are about to culminate in a total war.

Nasrallah’s death – if confirmed by Hezbollah – would be by far the worst blow suffered by the Iran-backed militant group.

Nasrallah’s role in the so-called axis of resistance of Iranian-backed militant groups became increasingly important after the US assassinated Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s most powerful commander, in 2020.

Nasrallah’s death would cast doubt on the future of Hezbollah, the Islamic revolutionary group founded by Iran during the Lebanese civil war in the 1980s.

The cleric’s downfall would also risk throwing Lebanon into chaos. Nasrallah led Hezbollah since 1992 and oversaw its rise to become the main political force in the country and a virtual state within a state.

He enjoyed enormous authority in Lebanon and throughout the Middle East, where he was compared in terms of his historical status to PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

The attack against Nasrallah came as part of an intense bombardment of locations across Lebanon, killing more than 600 people and displacing more than 90,000.

The attacks came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a defiant speech to the UN in New York on Friday that Israel “must defeat” the Lebanese militant group, despite international pressure for a ceasefire.

That came after a massive two-week escalation by Israel, during which its forces killed a series of senior Hezbollah commanders.

Earlier this week, Israel called up two reserve brigades for “operational missions” in the north of the country, and Herzi Halevi, the head of the army, told troops to prepare for a possible ground offensive in Lebanon.

The Israeli army said it continued its bombardment on Saturday, carrying out “extensive” bombardments in the Bekaa Valley in the east of the country and attacking further targets in the capital Beirut, after warning civilians in some densely populated neighborhoods to evacuate.

This is a development story. . .