The Israeli military has launched a new wave of airstrikes in Beirut, hitting the central headquarters of Hezbollah, with Israeli media reporting that the target was the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

A source close to the organization, cited by AFP, said Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah “is fine.”

Iran’s Tasnim news agency, after reporting that Nasrallah was safe, later said it had no confirmed information about Nasrallah’s condition. A senior Iranian security official also told Reuters that Tehran was investigating Nasrallah’s fate.

And the Arab network Al Arabiya reported that Hassan Nasrallah survived the attack, while an Israeli official said the military was conducting inquiries to determine whether he was killed, the official said.

Lebanese sources said that Hashem Safieddine, the head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council who was considered the number 2 in Hezbollah behind Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in the Israeli airstrike in Beirut.

However, a senior Hezbollah official later stated that Safieddin is alive.

In an initial count, Lebanon’s health ministry said at least two people were killed and 76 wounded in Israel’s raid on Beirut.

The Israelis reportedly said they had informed the Americans minutes before the strike.

However, a Pentagon spokesman on Friday said the United States had not been informed in advance of the Israeli strike in Beirut, and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart as the operation was underway.

At the same time, Israel’s hospitals and air defenses were put on high alert, while shelters were opened in all cities for fear of retaliation by Hezbollah.

The Israelis say they had information about Nasrallah’s movements and launched the strike when they were sure he had entered the headquarters.

In particular, in his statement, IDF spokesman Vice Admiral Daniel Hagari said that the Israeli Air Force struck Hezbollah’s main headquarters in the Lebanese capital Beirut a short time ago.

He noted that the center was built under civilian buildings in the suburb of Dahiyeh, a known Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut.

The IDF spokesman did not say whether Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was a target or whether the military believed he was at the scene while adding that there were no changes to instructions for Israeli civilians at this time.

Footage released by Lebanese media shows massive strikes while photos show massive destruction in the attack area with at least six buildings collapsed.

It is the worst raid since the 2006 war launched by the Israeli military, with loud explosions heard across the city from successive airstrikes, clouds of smoke rising, buildings flattened, ambulances running, and residents fleeing in panic. .

Photos show Hezbollah’s central headquarters which was leveled

Six buildings were completely destroyed in the strikes, a source close to Hezbollah said. The explosions caused huge craters in several places, according to Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV channel.

The Lebanese news agency and Hezbollah’s television network, Al Manar broadcast images of a huge crater and huge cloud of smoke rising over the city. Residents heard multiple loud explosions. Ambulance sirens are heard throughout the Lebanese capital.

The strike came twenty minutes after Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to the UN, with Israeli media reporting that the Israeli prime minister walked out of a briefing with Israeli journalists after his military secretary, Lt. Gen. Roman Goffman, whispered some information in his ear.

His military secretary, Lt. Gen. Roman Goffman, whispered something in Netanyahu’s ear moments before he ended the briefing and left with his advisers.

At the same time, the army announced that it is carrying out attacks against Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon as well.

For his part, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati accused Israel of a “genocidal war” and commented, from New York where he is attending the UN General Assembly, that today’s attacks in the southern suburbs of Beirut show that Israel “does not interested” in the ceasefire efforts in the region.