Press Briefing by IDF Spokesperson RAdm. Daniel Hagari- September 28, 2024

Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the terrorist army Hezbollah, was killed by the Israel Defense Forces in a precise strike in Beirut last night, while he was in Hezbollah’s Central Headquarters commanding more imminent attacks against the people of Israel.
 
For decades, Hezbollah, under the command of Hassan Nasrallah, orchestrated countless attacks against innocent people. Hassan Nasrallah had the blood of thousands of men, women and children on his hands. Israelis. Jews across the world. Lebanese. Americans. British. French. Syrians and other countless victims across the Middle East and beyond. 
 
Hezbollah, under the command of Hassan Nasrallah, joined Hamas in attacking Israel on October 8th...just one day after Hamas‘s massacre on October 7th. 
 
For almost a year, Hezbollah, under the command of Hassan Nasrallah, has been firing thousands of rockets, suicide drones full of explosives, anti-tank missiles and ballistic missiles at Israeli towns and cities. 60,000 Israelis fled their homes in northern Israel. 
  
Hezbollah has openly declared that it has a plan to carry out its own October the 7th massacre on Israel’s northern border, but on an even larger scale. They call this plan “Conquer the Galilee." Hezbollah has been planning to do in northern Israel what Hamas did in southern Israel on October 7th: invade Israel, infiltrate civilian communities, and massacre innocent civilians. The Israel Defense Forces has a duty to foil their plans. 
 
Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of an evil terrorist organization; the senior terrorists eliminated with him, and the central headquarters they were in, were legitimate military targets under international law. Nasrallah intentionally built Hezbollah’s central headquarters under residential buildings in Dahiya, Beirut—because Hezbollah intentionally uses Lebanese civilians as human shields. While Hezbollah seeks to maximize civilian harm, Israel seeks to minimize it. 
 
Our war is not with the Lebanese people; our war is with Hezbollah. Hezbollah, under the command of Hassan Nasrallah, chose to join the war that Hamas started. 
There are consequences for that decision. 
 
Hezbollah is not just a threat to Israel; Hezbollah is not just a threat to the State of Lebanon; Hezbollah is a threat to the world, backed by the regime in Iran. 
 
As of last night, Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, will no longer be able to terrorize the world. 
 
For Nasrallah’s many victims over the decades, whether in Israel, Argentina, Bulgaria, Syria, or Lebanon itself, justice has been served. 
 
We warned the world countless times: Hezbollah is dragging the State of Lebanon and the entire region into a wider escalation. Israel does not seek a wider escalation. 
 
We seek 2 things: to bring our hostages home from almost a year in Hamas captivity, and to make sure that our borders are safe and secure for our citizens.