ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah, was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs, the group confirmed on Saturday.

“His Eminence Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, has joined his noble, immortal martyr friends, who he led in their journey for nearly thirty years,” read a statement from the group after hours of speculation.

“The leadership of Hezbollah vows to the supreme and most sacred martyr in our path filled with sacrifices and martyrs that it will continue its jihad against the enemy, supporting Gaza and Palestine, and defending Lebanon and its steadfast and honorable people,” the statement added.

The Israeli military announced earlier in the day that Nasrallah was “eliminated” alongside Ali Karki, the commander of Hezbollah’s Southern Front, and other Hezbollah commanders in a strike on the group’s central headquarters “which was located underground embedded under a residential building” in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

“The is not the end of the tools in the toolbox. The message is simple, to anyone who threatens the citizens of the State of Israel, we will know how to get to them,” said Herzi Halevi, chief of staff of the Israeli military.

Nasrallah was one of the founding members of Hezbollah, formed in 1982 to fight the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. He became the group’s chief in 1992 after his predecessor Abbas al-Musawi was assassinated in an Israeli strike.

He is the latest Hezbollah senior figure killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon in recent months. Fuad Shukr, the group’s top military commander was killed in a strike on Beirut in July, while his second-in-command Ibrahim Aqil was killed in Haret Hreik last week. Ibrahim Qubaisi, a commander of the group's missile and rocket units, was killed in a strike on Beirut on Tuesday.

Hezbollah and the Israeli military have been engaged in cross-border exchanges of fire for nearly a year. The Lebanese group initiated strikes on northern Israel a day after October 7.

Violence has significantly escalated between the two sides over the past two weeks, sparked by a major cyberattack involving communication devices of Hezbollah members in Lebanon which killed dozens and injured around 4,000 others.

Over 700 people have been killed in Lebanon and more than 100,000 displaced since Israeli forces began intensifying their attacks on the country on Monday.

An international effort, led by the United States and France, has called for an immediate ceasefire on the Israel-Lebanon border, as the recent escalation of tensions between the Israeli military and Hezbollah threatens “a much broader conflict.”

The proposed 21-day truce has so far been endorsed by 11 countries and the European Union.