Israel claims it has killed Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem in massive overnight airstrikes on Beirut, marking a dramatic escalation in the Israel–Lebanon conflict. The IDF says Qassem’s personal secretary Ali Yusuf Kharshi was also eliminated in the same wave of strikes, along with multiple weapons storage sites, launchers, and command centres. According to Israel, around 10 Hezbollah military locations were targeted, including strategic crossings used to transfer weapons south of the Litani River. If confirmed, Qassem’s death would deal a major blow to the Iran-backed group, which already lost longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah in a previous Israeli strike.