World figures react to the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah
Global and regional leaders reacted on Saturday to news of the death of longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli air strike on Beirut. Nasrallah is by far the most powerful figure to be targeted by Israel in weeks of clashes and exchanges of rocket fire along the Israeli-Lebanese border, prompting fears of a wider regional war in the Middle East.
Hezbollah
Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group confirmed that its leader and co-founder Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an air strike in Beirut the previous day as Israel bombarded the Lebanese capital of Beirut.
A statement from the group said Nasrallah “has joined his fellow martyrs” and vowed to “continue the holy war against the enemy and in support of Palestine”.
The Lebanese population is sharply divided on the role Hezbollah plays in politics, with some 30 percent professing significant trust in the movement and others deeply resentful, wanting the nation to be free from sectarian conflict.
Israel
Speaking of the late Hezbollah leader, Netanyahu added: “He wasn’t another terrorist. He was the terrorist.”
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
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