‘More than 20’ Hezbollah members killed alongside Nasrallah: Israel

The Israeli military said on Sunday the strike that killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah this week in Beirut also “eliminated” more than 20 other members of the Lebanese armed group.

“More than 20 other terrorists of varying ranks, who were present at the underground headquarters in Beirut located beneath civilian buildings, and were managing Hezbollah’s terrorist operations against the state of Israel, were also eliminated,” the military said in a statement that listed some of them.

According to the statement, Ibrahim Hussein Jazini and Samir Tawfiq Dib who were “among Nasrallah’s closest associates” had been killed.

“Due to their proximity to him, they served a significant role in the day-to-day operations of Hezbollah and Nasrallah in particular,” it said.

Hezbollah on Saturday confirmed Nasrallah’s death, and on Sunday said Ali Karake, the group’s top commander in south Lebanon, were killed in the Friday attack.

Other names listed by the Israeli military include Abed al-Amir Muhammad Sablini and Ali Nayef Ayoub.

In recent days, Israel has shifted the focus of its military operations from Gaza to Lebanon, after nearly a year of low-level cross-border fire with Hezbollah, killing hundreds in Lebanon.

The group began firing on Israel in what it described as a show of solidarity with ally Hamas a day after the Palestinian militant group’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which triggered war in the Gaza Strip.