Body of Hezbollah leader recovered ‘intact’ as Israel troops kill another top leader

The body of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, killed in an Israeli air strike in southern Beirut, has been recovered, a source close to the movement told AFP.

Friday’s air strike also killed Ali Karake, the group’s top commander in southern Lebanon, Hezbollah said on Sunday. It has not named others who died alongside Nasrallah and Karake.

A medical source and a security source said Nasrallah’s body was found intact at the site of an Israeli air attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Meanwhile, Israeli military yesterday disclosed it has also killed Nabil Kaouk amid exchange of strikes between the two sides. Kaouk had been a member of Hezbollah since the 1980s, previously serving as deputy director general of the southern region.

“His body was recovered on Saturday and was placed in a shroud on Sunday after being washed,” the source said, requesting anonymity. The funeral ceremony and his burial have not yet been arranged,” the source added.

Before his death on Friday when Israeli jets attacked Hezbollah’s heartland in the south of the Lebanese capital, Nasrallah was considered the most powerful man in the country. For more than three decades he headed the Iran-backed movement that was Israel’s sworn enemy.

Israel’s military said on Sunday that “more than 20 other terrorists of varying ranks” were also killed in the attack.

Hezbollah has not commented on Kaouk’s fate, but supporters have been posting mourning messages for him since yesterday. “The IDF continues to attack and eliminate the commanders of the Hezbollah terrorist organisation and to act against anyone who threatens the citizens of the State of Israel,” said the Israeli military.

It said Kaouk had been a member of Hezbollah since the 1980s, previously serving as deputy director general of the southern region.

The Israeli military said Sunday evening it hit dozens more Hezbollah targets in Lebanon during a new barrage “a short while ago”, as frequent cross-border air raids continued.

“During the intelligence-based strikes, the (air force) struck approximately 120 Hezbollah terror targets in southern Lebanon and deep inside Lebanese territory,” a military statement said, adding that the targets included Hezbollah’s infrastructure and “significant headquarters used by Hezbollah’s different units.”

Israeli air strikes on Yemen killed four people on Sunday and wounded more than 30, Huthi media reported, after the Israeli military said it struck targets in the Iran-backed rebels’ territory including Hodeida. The Houthis are part of an Iran-aligned regional alliance, which also includes Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

The Huthi-controlled Al-Masirah TV said a port worker and three engineers were killed with 33 wounded in the “initial toll”, adding ambulance and rescue teams were still searching for missing people.