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Israel said on Saturday that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had been killed.
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Hezbollah has now confirmed the news.
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Nasrallah led the Iran-backed group since 1992.
Israel said this on Saturday to Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah had died in a targeted attack at the group’s central headquarters in Beirut.
Hezbollah has since confirmed the news of his death in a statement, warning that it would “continue its jihad in confronting the enemy, in support of Gaza and Palestine, and in defense of Lebanon.”
It marks the end of Nasrallah’s 32-year reign at the helm of Hezbollah and will be a major blow to the group.
Born in 1960 in eastern Beirut, Nasrallah would later become a skilled guerrilla commander before establishing himself as a popular political figure in Lebanon seen as “charismatic and highly intelligent,” according to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).
He took over Hezbollah in 1992 after Israel assassinated the group’s previous leader and co-founder, Abbas al-Musawi.
Nasrallah gained wide popularity for overseeing the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000 and the so-called “divine victory” in the 2006 Lebanon War. He gained more support after brokering a deal in 2004 to release more than 400 Palestinian, Lebanese and Arab prisoners to release.
Under his leadership, Hezbollah also significantly expanded its military capabilities – especially in the aftermath of the 2006 war – by acquiring a large stockpile of missiles.
The group, which has been funded by Iran for decades, is a one of the most heavily armed non-state actors in the world.
But Nasrallah’s tenure brought moments of controversy in Lebanon. He sent thousands of fighters from his Shiite Muslim Hezbollah to intervene in Syria’s civil war after it broke out in 2011, supporting President Bashar al-Assad’s regime against largely Sunni Islamist rebel groups – and despite Assad’s exclusion from the Arab world.
According to the CFR, the group’s support among Sunni Muslims declined due to its involvement in the fighting.
But more recently, Nasrallah played a major role in Hezbollah’s military operations against Israel following Israel’s war in Gaza, which helped rebuild the group’s popularity among Arab states.
Nasrallah was predeceased by his eldest son, Hadi, who was killed in fighting against Israeli forces in 1997.
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