Israel-Lebanon war latest: Israel on high alert as Hezbollah confirms leader Hassan Nasrallah killed in strike

Hezbollah has confirmed its leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israel airstrike.

France’s foreign ministry has said that, according to its information, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is indeed dead, as claimed by Israel.

“According to the information we have, Hassan Nasrallah, secretary general of Hezbollah, would indeed have died,” the French foreign ministry said in a statement.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has recommended that airlines do not operate in Lebanese or Israeli airspace for the next month.

The agency said that “an overall intensification of air strikes and degradation in the security situation has been noted, impacting the safety of airspace over Israel and Lebanon”.

It did not cite any one specific event in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah as a trigger for issuing its “conflict zone information bulletins” for the two countries.

It said the recommendation is valid until 31 October but could be reviewed earlier and adapted or withdrawn.

Israeli military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani has said that much of Hezbollah’s arsenal remains intact despite intense Israeli strikes over the past week, and that Israel will continue to target the group.

“This isn’t a threat that has gone away,” he said, adding that it is “safe to assume” that Hezbollah will retaliate.

But he said Israel hopes the blow “will change Hezbollah’s actions” and alter the course of the war.

Mr Shoshani said the airstrike targeting Nasrallah was based on years of tracking him, along with “real-time information.” He said Israel confirmed the death through various types of intelligence, though he declined to elaborate.

Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs are ongoing, witnesses have told Reuters , saying smoke was visible rising from the affected area.

A banner reading “Hezbollah is alive” and featuring a picture of leader Hassan Nasrallah was seen in northern Tehran today, after Israel said it had killed the decades-long chief of the Lebanese militant group.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has urged people “to stand by the people of Lebanon and the proud Hezbollah with whatever means they have and assist them in confronting the … wicked regime [of Israel]”.

Following Israel’s claim to have killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, Iranian state media reported Mr Khamenei as saying: “The fate of this region will be determined by the forces of resistance, with Hezbollah at the forefront.”

His remarks come after two regional officials briefed by Tehran told Reuters that Khamenei had been transferred to a secure location inside the country with heightened security measures in place.

Under the leadership of the 64-year-old Nasrallah, Hezbollah has fought wars against Israel and taken part in the conflict in neighbouring Syria, helping tip the balance of power in favour of president Bashar Assad.

A charismatic and shrewd strategist, Hassan Nasrallah reshaped Hezbollah into an arch-enemy of Israel, cementing alliances with Shia religious leaders in Iran and Palestinian militant groups such as Hamas.

Idolised by his Lebanese Shia followers and respected by millions of others across the Arab and Islamic world, Nasrallah holds the title of sayyid, an honorific meant to signify the Shia cleric’s lineage dating back to the Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam.

A fiery orator viewed as an extremist in the US and much of the West, he is also considered a pragmatist compared to the firebrand militants who dominated Hezbollah after its founding in 1982, during Lebanon’s civil war.

Despite the power he wields, Nasrallah has lived largely in hiding in the past years for fear of an Israeli assassination.

Lebanon’s transport ministry told an Iranian aircraft not to enter its airspace after Israel warned air traffic control at Beirut airport that it would use “force” if the plane landed, a source at the ministry told Reuters.

The source said it was not clear what was on the plane, adding: “The priority is people’s lives.”

No new instructions have been given to Israeli civilians regarding home front readiness, Israeli Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters, as current guidelines already put much of the country on high alert.

“Hezbollah has been escalating this for a year … Iran is obviously behind this, it’s no secret,” the Israeli military spokesperson said. “They’re backing Hamas, they’re backing Hezbollah and other proxies. They even attacked us directly in April.

“So are we ready for a wider escalation? Yes. We’ve been in a wider escalation, a multi-front war, for a year. Our forces are on high alert, our intelligence is up and looking for these types of threats.”