Israel bombed the center of Beirut for the first time in almost a year of hostilities with Lebanon’s Hezbollah, as the military steps up air assaults following the killing of the Iran-backed group’s chief last week.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who led the terror group for more than 30 years, was killed in an Israeli airstrike. Nasrallah, 64, was killed during a massive airstrike on the Iran-backed group's "central headquarters" in Beirut, Lebanon on Friday, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

The carpet-bombing, which leveled an entire residential block, sends Israel’s war on Lebanon into uncharted territory.

The Israeli military claims that Hassan Nasrallah, secretary-general of Hezbollah, was killed in Friday’s airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon.

Israel said Saturday that it killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, dealing its most significant blow to the Lebanese militant group after months of fighting. There was no immediate confirmation from Hezbollah.

Following the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, pressure has been mounting on the regime in Tehran, the biggest ally of the Lebanese militia, to react. But while the government hails Nasrallah as a martyr and has ordered five days of national mourning,

Israel's killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has given Iran a serious dilemma -- how to cope with the loss of a crucial ally and still maintain its regional influence. "Nasrallah has been crucial to Iran's power expansion,

The death of Gen. Abbas Nilforushan marks the latest Iranian casualty as the Israel-Gaza war threatens a wider regional conflict A prominent general in Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard died in an Israeli air strike that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut,