The Israeli military told residents in parts of Beirut's southern suburbs to evacuate late on Friday (September 27), after strikes that it said had targeted Hezbollah's central headquarters and with no word hours later from the group on the fate of their head Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Reuters reports.
The order to evacuate, made by Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee via X, told residents to get at least 500 meters (550 yards) away from three specific buildings in the area. It was the first announcement of its kind for the densely populated neighborhoods south of Beirut.
A source close to Hezbollah told Reuters Nasrallah was alive. Iran's Tasnim news agency also reported he was safe. A senior Iranian security official told Reuters Tehran was checking his status. Hezbollah's media office said that there was no truth to any statements surrounding the Israeli strikes, but did not say anything about the fate of the group's leader.
In New York, a senior Israeli official told reporters that senior Hezbollah commanders were the target of Israel's strike on the central headquarters on Friday but it was too early to say whether the attack took out Nasrallah.
At a United Nations Security Council meeting on Friday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urgently called for an immediate ceasefire.
"The war in Lebanon could lead to further escalation involving outside powers," Guterres warned. He expressed his full support for a temporary ceasefire, which would allow for the delivery of much-needed humanitarian relief and lay the groundwork for serious negotiations towards a lasting peace across the Blue Line, a border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel.
"We need this ceasefire now," he stressed. "We cannot afford endless negotiations, as we have on Gaza. We must avoid a regional war at all costs."
