Fate of Hezbollah chief unknown after he was targeted in Israeli strike 

Israel launched massive air strikes on Hezbollah headquarters in Beirut late Friday, with Israeli media reporting that Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was targeted in the strikes.

There are conflicting reports about Nasrallah’s fate . When the Israeli media initially reported that he was killed in the attack that targeted Hezbollah’s command , Hezbollah and iran denied the reports and claimed he was alive and in a safe location.

But the news from Israel continued to stress that the chances for his survival were zero since he was present in the meeting with his deputies and staff when Hezbollah headquarters were targeted and 6 buildings were leveled .

Just before midnight on Friday Israel’s s Channel 12 news reported that an Israeli assessment pointed to the success of the strike on Hezbollah headquarters in assassinating Nasrallah and a statement from Tehran after an urgent meeting of its Supreme leader and his staff may be preparing the public for the eventual announcement of Nasrallah’s death and his replacement.

Following Ayatollah Ali Khmomanei ‘s meeting with his staff Friday evening ,  the Supreme Leader’s advisor Ali Larijani pointed out that “the resistance includes strong leaders and cadres, and every leader who is martyred will have a replacement, and Israel is crossing Iran’s red lines and the situation has become dangerous.”

The Financial Times quoted a well informed Iranian source as saying: “Whether Hassan Nasrallah is killed or not, the attacks will push the war into a completely different phase”

.The latest bombardment – the most powerful in the Lebanese capital in the past year – came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the UN General Assembly that Israel would continue striking Hezbollah until it met its objectives..

Nasrallah became secretary general of Hezbollah in 1992 at just 35, the public face of a once shadowy group founded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982 to fight Israeli occupation forces.

Wearing the black turban of a sayyed, or a descendent of the Prophet Mohammad, Nasrallah uses his addresses to rally Hezbollah’s base but also to deliver carefully calibrated threats, often wagging his finger as he does so.

Israel killed his predecessor, Sayyed Abbas al-Musawi, in a helicopter attack.