Israeli Official Confirms Senior Hezbollah Commanders Targeted in Strike, According to Reuters

By Michelle Nichols and Don Durfee

NEW YORK – Senior commanders of Hezbollah were the intended targets of Israel’s recent strike on the group’s central headquarters located in the suburbs of Beirut. However, officials indicated it is too soon to determine if the attack succeeded in eliminating their leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

A senior Israeli official, speaking to reporters, acknowledged the uncertainty surrounding Nasrallah’s status following the strike. "I think it’s too early to say, but, you know, it’s a question of time. Sometimes they hide the fact when we succeed," he noted when asked about the potential outcome.

The Israeli military confirmed that it aimed at Hezbollah’s headquarters in a move that reverberated throughout the Lebanese capital. Asked how long it might take to assess Nasrallah’s fate, the official stated, "Certainly if he’s alive, you’ll know it very immediately. If he’s dead, it may take some time."

During an off-the-record briefing in New York, the official expressed the grave threat posed to Israel by Iran-backed militias in the region, emphasizing that "we cannot survive if we don’t stop this and reverse it." He outlined that reversing this situation could require a general war with Hezbollah, which might also lead to a wider conflict with Iran.

Taking out Nasrallah, the official argued, could neutralize Hezbollah’s operations and disrupt an essential axis of the organization’s power structure. "If you take him out, you not only neutralize that front, but you also break a lynchpin," he asserted.

Nasrallah has been the secretary general of Hezbollah since 1992, becoming a prominent figure of the group, which was established in 1982 by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to combat Israeli forces in Lebanon. Israel previously killed his predecessor, Sayyed Abbas al-Musawi, in a helicopter strike.

The official defended Israel’s strategy by highlighting that despite previous assassinations of militant leaders not significantly damaging their organizations, Nasrallah’s role is unique. "In many ways he keeps this thing focused, alive and kicking. Some people are irreplaceable," he explained.

Around two weeks ago, the Israeli cabinet resolved that it could not allow citizens to remain "refugees in their own land" after enduring a year of conflict. This decision was part of a broader war aim to restore security for Israeli citizens, weaken Hezbollah’s capabilities, and destroy the group’s border infrastructure to alter the regional balance of power.

The official claimed that efforts had been made to eliminate approximately half of Hezbollah’s missile and rocket capabilities developed over the last three decades with Iranian assistance, accomplishing this feat within a matter of hours.

While the future remains uncertain, he suggested the possibility of this action being pivotal, stating, "We don’t seek a broader war. In fact, we seek not to have a broader war and Iran has to consider what it does now."