The strike that killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut also "eliminated" more than 20 other members, says Israel's military.
The update comes after Israel launched a series of airstrikes against the militant group's central headquarters in the Lebanon capital. The bloodshed happened shortly after Israel's Prime Minister Benkamin Netanyahu promised to "defeat Hezbollah” in a speech at the UN.
The huge air strike killed two close supporters of Nasrallah including one who was responsible for leading his security detail. Ali Karaki, the head of the terror group's Southern Front, was also named as a casualty killed in the airstrike, said Israel. According to reports, Nasrallah's security unit, Ibrahim Hussein Jazini, and Samir Tawfiq Dib, were also killed during the strike.
The IDF said: "Due to their proximity to him, they served a significant role in the day-to-day operations of Hezbollah and Nasrallah in particular." On Sunday, the Israeli military said it had also killed Nabil Kaouk, who was the deputy head of Hezbollah's central council.
READ MORE: Israel's killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah is 'devastating blow to Iran' - war expert
A spokesperson for the White House's national security said Israel's airstrikes had "wiped out" Hezbollah's command structure. He said on CNN: "I think people are safer without him walking around. But they will try to recover. We're watching to see what they do to try to fill this leadership vacuum. It's going to be tough. Much of their command structure has now been wiped out."
Nabil Kaouk is the seventh senior leader of the Lebanese militant group to be killed since September 20. Meanwhile, an Israeli air strike on north-east Lebanon killed 11 people on Sunday. Lebanon’s state news agency said the early morning attack destroyed a home, killing all 11 people inside.
Six of the bodies were recovered from under the rubble and the search continues for the remaining five in the village of al-Ain, the National News Agency said. More than 700 people have been killed in Lebanon since September 23 when Israel intensified its air strikes around the country, forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes in south Lebanon, the eastern Bekaa Valley and Beirut’s southern suburb known as Dahiyeh.
The number of those displaced has more than doubled and now stands at more than 211,000, according to the United Nations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said targeting Hezbollah leader Nasrallah was “an essential condition to achieving the goals we set”.
The Israeli military said it carried out a precise air strike on Friday while Hezbollah leaders were meeting at their headquarters in Dahiyeh. In his first public remarks since the killing, Mr Netanyahu said: “He wasn’t another terrorist. He was the terrorist.” He said Nasrallah’s killing would help bring displaced Israelis back to their homes in the north and would pressure Hamas to free Israeli hostages held in Gaza. However, with the threat of retaliation high, he said the coming days would bring “significant challenges” and warned Iran against trying to strike.
“There is no place in Iran or in the Middle East that Israel’s long arm cannot reach,” he said. “Today you know how much that is true.” A statement from Hezbollah said Nasrallah – who led the group for more than three decades – “has joined his fellow martyrs”. The group vowed to “continue the holy war against the enemy and in support of Palestine”.
Meanwhile, thousands of people gathered across Iran on Sunday to protest against the killing of Nasrallah. State TV aired footage of protests in several major cities, while at the parliament, politicians chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel”. Iran helped establish Hezbollah in the 1980s and has provided the Lebanese militant group with sophisticated weaponry and training. The air strike that killed Nasrallah on Friday also killed Abbas Nilforushan, a senior officer in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
