IDF claims Nasrallah killed in Beirut airstrike

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was killed in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) strike on Hezbollah's headquarters in Beirut, the IDF announced. 

Almost 42 years after co-founding the Lebanese organization Hezbollah, its leader Hassan Nasrallah was eliminated, alongside Ali Karaki, Hezbollah's commander of the southern front, as well as other Hezbollah commanders, IDF said 

But Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah is alive, a source close to the armed group said after the strike.

A series of blasts hit Beirut’s southern suburbs, with multiple explosions sending plumes of smoke into the air, visible across the city’s skyline.

Israeli airstrikes targeted the city, with the military stating it aimed to "degrade and dismantle" Hezbollah's central headquarters and capabilities.

Also Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was the target of the strike. 

At least two people were killed and 76 wounded in Israel's latest strikes, the health ministry said.

Hours after the strikes, Israeli fighter jets attacked Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, including weapons launchers and weapons storage sites.

Lebanon's armed group Hezbollah said that it had fired a salvo of rockets on the city of Safed in Israel, its first announced attack since Israeli strikes hit the southern suburbs of Beirut hours earlier.

Rescue teams searched for survivors of an Israeli strike which the military said was targeting Hezbollah's central headquarters in Beirut's southern suburbs in an attack that shook the Lebanese capital and sent thick clouds of smoke over the city.

Israel is seeking peace despite fighting for its life in the face of "savage enemies" who want its annihilation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a closely watched address to the United Nations.

Hezbollah's al-Manar television reported that four buildings were destroyed and there were many casualties in the multiple strikes, which marked a major escalation of Israel's conflict with the heavily armed Hezbollah.