Beirut, Lebanon: Israel killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in a huge air strike in Lebanon, dealing the movement a seismic blow that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday called a "turning point" for his country.
Hezbollah confirmed Nasrallah's death after the Israeli military said he had been killed in an air strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Iran-backed group's main bastion, on Friday.
Some Israelis celebrated his killing, while in Lebanon, his supporters' disbelief gave way to anguished mourning.
Around the region, leaders condemned the killing while some Hezbollah allies vowed vengeance, fuelling fears of more violence in the Middle East after nearly a year of war in Gaza.
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"Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah... has joined his great, immortal martyr comrades whom he led for about 30 years," Hezbollah said in a statement.
Netanyahu said Israel had "settled the score" for the killing of Israelis and citizens of other countries, including Americans.
He said that as long as Nasrallah was alive, he could have "quickly restored the capabilities we had eroded from Hezbollah" in a series of recent operations.
"So, I gave the order - and Nasrallah is no longer with us," he said, adding that his country was on the cusp of "what appears to be a historic turning point" in the fight against its enemies.
Iran, which arms and finances Hezbollah, said a senior member of its Revolutionary Guards Corps was killed in the same strike. A source close to Hezbollah said the group's top commander in south Lebanon, Ali Karake, had also died.
Israel carries out raids on 'dozens' of Hezbollah targets
The Israeli military said on Sunday it conducted strikes against "dozens" of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, two days after an air strike killed the group's chief Hassan Nasrallah.
The Israel Defense Forces "attacked dozens of terrorist targets in the territory of Lebanon in the last few hours," the army said in a statement on Telegram.
Iran calls for emergency UN Security Council meeting
Iran on Saturday called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council in protest at the killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli air strike in Lebanon, according to a letter to the Council sent to AFP.
In the letter, Iran's UN envoy Amir Saeid Iravani called on the Council to "take immediate and decisive action to stop Israel's ongoing aggression and prevent... from dragging the region into full-scale war."
Biden urges 'ceasefire'
US President Joe Biden on Saturday called for a ceasefire after Israeli strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon - part of an extended bombing campaign against the strongholds of the Iran-backed militant group.
"It's time for a ceasefire," Biden said in response to a reporter asking whether an Israeli ground invasion was inevitable.
Lebanon says 33 killed, 195 wounded in Israeli strikes
Lebanon said that Israeli strikes had killed 33 people and wounded 195 others in the country Saturday.
"The Israeli aggression against Lebanese regions has resulted in 33 deaths today and has wounded 195 people", the country's health ministry said in a statement on the sixth day of an Israeli bombing campaign against the strongholds of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.
