The Israeli military said it was on high alert as Hezbollah confirmed the death of its chief Hassan Nasrallah in an assault that levelled six apartment blocks, killing at least 11 people and wounding more than 100, health officials said.
Ali Karki, the commander of Hezbollah’s southern front, was among several senior figures also killed in the attack, the Israeli military claimed, along with Abbas Nilforushan, a prominent general in Iran’s paramilitary guard, according to Iranian state media reports.
The strikes ramp up pressure on Iran to retaliate as Nasrallah’s death leaves Tehran’s most powerful proxy without the man who has led the group since 1992.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on people to stand by Hezbollah “with whatever means they have” and assist them in confronting Israel, warning that “the fate of this region will be determined by the forces of resistance, with Hezbollah at the forefront”.
The killing drew condemnation from regional leaders, with Iraq’s premier Mohammed Shia al-Sudani accusing Israel of having crossed “all red lines”. Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that Israel “must be stopped” and condemned its “inhumane” attacks against Lebanon.
But US president Joe Biden said the killing of Nasrallah was a “measure of justice” for his victims.
British officials repeated foreign secretary David Lammy’s pleas to the UN this week for a ceasefire and a political solution to avoid “a full-blown war” as the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah – simmering since Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel – rapidly boils over.
The Foreign Office urged the 5,000 or so British citizens in Lebanon to leave immediately, and is thought to be ready to facilitate evacuations by sea or air if the security environment deteriorates further.
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