Hezbollah confirms death of Nasrallah’s bodyguard in Israeli strike on Iran

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Lebanese Hezbollah movement on Saturday confirmed the death of Abu Ali Khalil, a former bodyguard of late Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, in an Israeli airstrike inside Iran.

“Abu Ali Khalil, personal bodyguard of Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, was martyred in an Israeli bombing in Iran,” Hezbollah’s media office said in a statement sent to Rudaw on Saturday. 

Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the group’s headquarters in southern Lebanon in September 2024.

“In the attack, the Iraqi leader from the Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades, Haider al-Mousawi, was also targeted,” the statement added. 

The Iraq-based pro-Iran Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades has confirmed Mousawi’s death.

Since Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel has targeted the leadership of the Palestinian Hamas and Hezbollah in strikes on Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran.

In its current operation against Iran, Israel has targeted the top echelon of Iran’s military, killing many senior commanders including Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander General Hossein Salami, chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Bagheri, head of IRGC’s main operational command General Gholam Ali Rashid, and head of the IRGC’s aerospace division General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.

Israel earlier on Saturday claimed it killed two commanders in Iran’s elite Quds Force, including commander of the Palestine Corps Saeed Izadi, in a precision strike near Qom.