Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has been killed, the Iran-backed group said on Saturday, confirming his death after the Israeli military said it had eliminated him in an airstrike in Beirut the day before.
His death marks a devastating blow to Hezbollah, as it reels from an intense campaign of Israeli attacks. It is also a huge blow to Iran, removing an influential ally who helped build Hezbollah into the linchpin of Tehran's constellation of allied groups in the Arab world.
Hezbollah said in a statement that it would continue its battle against Israel "in support of Gaza and Palestine, and in defense of Lebanon and its steadfast and honorable people."
It did not say how Nasrallah was killed.
Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV started airing Koran verses after his death was announced.
Iran calls for Muslims to unite against Israel
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Muslims on Saturday "to stand by the people of Lebanon and the proud Hezbollah with whatever means they have and assist them in confronting the ... wicked regime (of Israel)."
Khamenei, in a statement after the Israeli army said it had killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, said: "The fate of this region will be determined by the forces of resistance, with Hezbollah at the forefront," state media reported.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian blamed Nasrallah's killing partly on the United States which has long supplied Israel with advanced weapons.
"The Americans cannot deny their complicity with the Zionists," Pezeshkian said in a statement carried by state media.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani vowed in a post on X that Nasrallah's "path will be continued and his holy goal will be realized in the liberation of Jerusalem."
Hamas says Nasrallah 'assassination' will only strengthen resistance
Palestinian terrorist group Hamas said on Saturday it mourned Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah following his killing in an Israeli airstrike, saying his death would only fuel the fight against Israel.
"Crimes and assassination by the occupation will only increase the determination and the insistence of the resistance in Palestine and Lebanon to go forward with all their might, bravery and pride on the footsteps of the martyrs...and pursue the path of resistance until victory and the dismissal of the occupation," Hamas said in a statement.
His death marks a heavy blow to Hezbollah as it reels from an escalating campaign of Israeli attacks. It is also a huge blow to Iran, given the major role he has played in the Tehran-backed regional "Axis of Resistance."
The 'Axis of Resistance' refers to groups including Hezbollah that are backed by Iran and have been waging attacks on Israel since war erupted between their ally Hamas and Israel on Oct. 7.
"We reaffirm our absolute solidarity and standing with the brothers in Hezbollah and the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, who are taking part in the battle of the Al-Aqsa Flood to defend Al-Aqsa mosque, alongside our people and our resistance," Hamas added.
Islamic Jihad, another Iranian-backed Palestinian group, said in a statement: "Sooner or later, the resistance forces in Lebanon, Palestine, and the region will make the enemy pay the price of its crimes, and taste defeat for what its sinful hands have done."
Israel and Hamas have been fighting since gunmen from the Palestinian terrorist group stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing some 250 hostages.
Asked how Nasrallah's death would affect the fight against Israel, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters: "The assassination of Hassan Nasrallah will not break the will of the resistance and we are confident that the occupation will lose the battle," said Abu Zuhri.
Yemen's Houthis mourn slain Hezbollah chief, say resistance will not be broken
The Houthi movement in Yemen on Saturday mourned the death of Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, its ally in an Iran-backed alliance opposing Israel, in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut.
"The resistance will not be broken, and the Jihadist spirit of the Mujahideen brothers in Lebanon and on all fronts of support will grow stronger and bigger," the group said in a statement.
Hezbollah confirmed Nasrallah's killing after the Israeli military said it had eliminated him in an airstrike in Beirut on Friday.
Both Hezbollah and the Houthis are part of the Axis of Resistance, an alliance built up over years of Iranian support against Israel and US influence in the Middle East.
The Houthis have launched repeated drone and missile strikes on ships they say are affiliated to Israel, in the crucial shipping channels of the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Gulf of Aden since November to show their support for Palestinians in the Gaza war.
The group, which controls northern Yemen, also fired missiles and drones at Israel repeatedly, some of which targeted central Israel for the first time.