Tension mounts, Israel continues airstrikes. There is a reaction from the White House

The Israeli Defense Forces announced on Saturday that Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah was killed in an airstrike on Friday in Dahije, which later confirmed by this organization. Earlier, almost all senior Hezbollah commanders were killed in Israeli airstrikes, which were carried out on a massive scale since Monday.

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The White House issued a statement about the attack on Saturday. President Joe Biden he called it “a measure of justice.” He noted that the operation to overthrow Nasrallah took place in the broader context of a conflict that began with an attack by Palestinian Hamas on Israel October 7, 2023.

“The next day, Nasrallah made the fateful decision to join forces with Hamas and open what he called a 'northern front' against Israel,” Biden said in a statement. He also noted that Hezbollah, led by Nasrallah, was responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans.

He also informed that on his orders the Minister of Defense Lloyd Austin will increase protection for American soldiers stationed in the Middle East.

Biden noted that the United States' goal is to de-escalate the ongoing conflicts conflicts in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon through diplomatic means.

Due to the escalation of tensions in the Middle East following the death of Nasrallah, the Department of State USA on Saturday ordered some employees of the American embassy in Beirut and their family members to leave Lebanon through Israel. The ministry also introduced travel restrictions for embassy staff.

On Saturday, Iranian authorities announced that in Friday's Israeli airstrike on Beirut, in addition to the leader of Hezbollah, Abbas Nilforushan, an important general of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, was also killed.

Representative of the judicial authorities Iran Ahmad Reza Pur Chaghan reported the death of Nilforushan, describing him as a “guest of the Lebanese people,” the IRNA news agency reported. He also said Iran had the right to retaliate under international law.

The death of a prominent military officer increases pressure on Iran to respond to the Israeli attack, notes the AP agency.

After Nasrallah's death, the army said it would continue airstrikes against Hezbollah, including its commanders, weapons caches and other infrastructure.

On Saturday evening, the AFP agency, citing a source in the Lebanese security apparatus, reported that Israel attacked warehouses near the airport in Beirut. Reuters reported that an area half a kilometer from the airport buildings was hit. The area under fire is an industrial zone with many car repair shops, a source told Reuters. It was noted that of Israel's previous attacks, this was the closest to Lebanon's only international airport

The president of Lebanon's Middle East Airlines, Mohammad al-Hut, said the airport was operating normally. “Beirut airport is not the target of the attack, there are no weapons there,” he assured in an interview with Reuters.

The Israeli army announced earlier on Saturday another airstrike on the Dahije district of Beirut, considered a Hezbollah stronghold. As it was added, Hasan Khalil Yassin, the commander of the Hezbollah intelligence unit responsible for setting targets for attacks in Israel, was killed in the attack. According to the army, the man was planning further attacks on Israel, which were to take place in the coming days.

Minister of Foreign Affairs France Jean-Noel Barrot on Saturday called on Israel to immediately stop airstrikes on Lebanon, and on Hezbollah and Iran to refrain from actions that could escalate.

Barrot also emphasized that France is opposed to any land operations by Israel in Lebanon – said in a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after the Friday telephone conversation between the head of French diplomacy and the Prime Minister of Lebanon, Najib Mikati. As it was added, French diplomacy sent a request to all parties to the conflict to exercise the greatest possible restraint. Barrot also drew attention to the need to ensure the security of the civilian population of both Lebanon and Israel.

Head of the German Foreign Ministry Annalena Baerbock warned of the spiral of violence in the Middle East.

– The situation in the Middle East is extremely dangerous and there is a risk that the entire region will plunge into a spiral of violence – Baerbock said on Saturday in the ARD program. She added that German diplomacy continues its efforts to reach a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said he had a conversation with the Lebanese prime minister on Saturday. – We agreed that an immediate ceasefire is necessary to end this bloodshed. A diplomatic solution is the only way to restore peace and stability to the citizens of both Lebanon and Israel, he said.

In the fall of 2023, after the outbreak of the war in the Gaza Strip, Iran-backed Hezbollah began regular shelling of northern Israel, which was met with strong counterattacks.

Since Monday, the Israeli air force has been carrying out massive airstrikes on Lebanon. More than 700 people have already died and about a million Lebanese residents have fled their homes. Israel emphasizes that the airstrikes are aimed at the infrastructure and fighters of the terrorist Hezbollah, and the aim of the operation is to restore security in the north of the country, from which over 60,000 inhabitants had to flee from the attacks.

Yemenis also declared solidarity with Hamas after the outbreak of the war in the Gaza Strip Houthi rebelswho began to fire on ships crossing the Red Sea, declaring that the airstrikes were an expression of support for a Palestinian terrorist organization and that their target was Israel and its trade. They also attacked Israel itself.

On Saturday, the Israeli Defense Forces said that Israeli air defenses shot down a ballistic missile fired from Yemen toward central Israel. It was noted that the missile was intercepted outside the country and shot down by the Arrow long-range defense system.

The last time sirens in this part of the country wailed after midnight on Friday, when air defenses shot down another missile sent from Yemen. The Houthi rebel group, which controls a large part of the country, later claimed responsibility for the attack. The militant group announced that the attack was in retaliation for the killing of the commander of Hezbollah's air unit, Mohammad Surur, in an Israeli airstrike on Thursday in Beirut.

The Houthis have announced that they will continue to attack Israel, thus supporting Palestinian Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah in their fight against this state. All these organizations are considered to belong to the so-called axis of resistance – an informal coalition led by Iran and targeting Israel, which also includes Shiite militias in Iraq and pro-government armed groups in Syria.