The body of Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s chief who was assassinated by Israel last week, has been recovered from the site where the Israeli airstrikes took place on Beirut's southern suburbs of Lebanon. The medical and security officials told Reuters that the body of the slain Hezbollah militant was “intact” and had “no direct wounds”. They claimed that his death appears to have happened due to “blunt trauma” from the force of the blast.
Israel had conducted airstrikes on the Hezbollah headquarters in Beirut on Friday, and its military confirmed his death on Saturday with a post on X, stating, “Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorise the world”. Hours later, Hezbollah declared its top-most leader dead.
However, Hezbollah's statement on Saturday confirming Nasrallah's death did not say how exactly he was killed nor when his funeral would be.
Netanyahu on Nasrallah's killing
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday (September 28) said that the elimination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was a “necessary condition” for Israel to achieve its war goals. In his first reaction since Israel took down the militant, Netanyahu said that the killings of other militants of the armed outfit “was not enough”, which is why he came to the conclusion that neutralising Nasrallah was also needed.
Nasrallah was killed in an airstrike by Israel on the Hezbollah command centre on Friday (September 27), a move which is likely to give a new shape to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East which has raised fears of a full-blown war on the lines of Gaza.
“Nasrallah was not just another terrorist, he was the terrorist. He was the axis of the axis, the main engine of Iran's axis of evil. He and his people were the architects of the plan to destroy Israel. He was not only operated by Iran, he also frequently operated Iran. Therefore, at the beginning of the week, I came to the conclusion that the powerful blows that the IDF has been landing on Hezbollah in recent days were not enough,” Netanyahu said in his first statement post-killing of Nasrallah.
“The elimination of Nasrallah is a necessary condition in achieving the objectives we have set: Returning the residents of the north safely to their homes, and changing the balance of power in the region for years. As long as Nasrallah was alive, he would have quickly rebuilt the capabilities we took from Hezbollah. Therefore, I gave the directive – and Nasrallah is no longer with us,” he added.
Nasrallah's killing advances return of hostages in the South: Netanyahu
The Israeli Prime Minister hoped that the killing of the Hezbollah chief "advances the return of our residents to their homes in the north". "It also advances the return of our hostages in the south," he said.
"The more that Sinwar sees that Nasrallah will not be coming to his rescue, the greater are the chances for returning our hostages. Israel has momentum; we are winning," Netanyahu said.
He also expressed his determination to "continue striking our enemies", to return the residents to their homes, and to "return all of our hostages".
US backs Nasrallah's killing
US President Joe Biden on Saturday (September 28) extended support to Israel for taking down Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, while holding the latter responsible for the killing of "hundreds of Americans over a four-decade reign of terror". Biden said that the United States fully supports Israel's right to defend itself against Hezbollah and other "Iranian-supported terrorist groups". He described the death of Nasrallah as a "measure of justice for his many victims".
"Hassan Nasrallah and the terrorist group he led, Hezbollah, were responsible for killing hundreds of Americans over a four-decade reign of terror. His death from an Israeli airstrike is a measure of justice for his many victims, including thousands of Americans, Israelis, and Lebanese civilians," Biden said in a statement, hours after the Israeli military announced the killing of the Hezbollah chief. The militant group also confirmed his death soon after.
The US President said that Nasrallah made the "fateful decision" to open "northern front" against Israel the next day of the October 7 Hamas attack on the Jewish country.
"The strike that killed Nasrallah took place in the broader context of the conflict that began with Hamas’s massacre on October 7, 2023. Nasrallah, the next day, made the fateful decision to join hands with Hamas and open what he called a “northern front” against Israel," Biden said.
(With inputs from agencies)
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