Fate of Hezbollah chief unknown after he was targeted in Israeli strike, 2 Hezbollah leaders killed

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Target of strikes in Beirut was Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah: Trey Yingst

Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst reports on the latest rocket fire exchange between Israel and Lebanon on ‘The Story.’

The fate of Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah is unknown following the Israeli Defense Forces’ “targeted attack” against the central headquarters of Hezbollah in Beirut, Lebanon. 

Fox News has learned the target of the attack was Nasrallah, but Hezbollah has since claimed that he is “fine and well” following the strike.

“His Eminence the Secretary-General is fine and well and was not in the targeted location,” Hezbollah Media Relations Officer Hajj Muhammad Afif said on Iranian television. 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has not provided an official status update on Nasrallah’s whereabouts.

ISRAEL TARGETS HEZBOLLAH LEADER NASRALLAH IN STRIKE ON BEIRUT HEADQUARTERS

Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah gives a televised address at a memorial ceremony to mark one week since the passing of Mohammad Yaghi, one of the powerful armed groups figures, in Baalbek, Lebanon January 5, 2024. (REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir)

Elijah J. Magnier, a Brussels-based veteran and a senior political risk analyst, said that the group’s normal practice “is that they either want him to be in a safe place, and they are moving him, or he is dead, and they want to wait until they find his body.”

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An arch glorifying Hezbollah and baring pictures of its chief Hassan Nasrallah (R) and Iran’s spiritual leader Ali Khamenei in Beirut. (AP Photo/Bassam Masri)

On Friday night, the IDF announced that two of Hezbollah’s leaders – Muhammad Ali Ismail and Hussein Ahmad Ismail – were killed in the strike.

“Muhammad Ali Ismail, the Commander of Hezbollah’s Missile Unit in southern Lebanon, and his deputy, Hussein Ahmad Ismail, were eliminated in a precise IAF strike,” the IDF announced in a X post.

The Israeli agency said that Ali Ismail was responsible for “directing numerous terrorist attacks” and “the firing of rockets towards Israeli territory and the launch of a surface-to-surface missile towards central Israel on Wednesday.”

The IDF’s announcement of the elimination of the two terrorist leaders came after Ibrahim Muhammad Qabisi, Head of Hezbollah’s Missiles and Rockets Force, as well as other senior commanders of this unit, were previously killed.

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Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh previously said that the U.S. was not involved in this operation and had no advance warning.

“Minister [Yoav] Gallant spoke with Secretary Austin as the operation was already underway,” Singh said. “This operation has happened within the last few hours. We are still assessing the event.”

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The Pentagon also declined to speculate on whether the Hezbollah leader was still alive.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan, Fox News’ Trey Yingst and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. 

Story tips and ideas can be sent to sarah.rumpf@fox.com and on X: @s_rumpfwhitten.