The Israeli Defense Forces confirmed the death of Lebanese Hezbollah leader and all-around terrorist Hassan Nasrallah Saturday following a massive Israeli airstrike on a Hezbollah command bunker Friday.

Long-time Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other top commanders of the terror group were killed in a massive Israeli airstrike on their underground headquarters in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, the Israel Defense Forces announced Saturday morning as Israel sought to dramatically upend the year-long conflict.

The announcement came as the Israeli military ramped up its airstrikes against Hezbollah assets in Beirut and other areas in Lebanon, hours after Nasrallah was struck at the terror group’s main headquarters, leaving parts of the Lebanese capital shrouded in smoke and dust.

Israel has eliminated much of the Hezbollah terror group’s most senior leadership in recent weeks.

In a statement, the IDF said that alongside Nasrallah, the commander of Hezbollah’s so-called Southern Front, Ali Karaki — who survived a recent assassination attempt — was also killed in the Friday afternoon strike, along with other top commanders in the terror group.

RELATED: Unconfirmed Israeli Reports Claim Hezbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah Killed in Beirut Strike

The moment #Israel hits #Nasrallah’s rat hole from 15 different angles!
Thanks, @Israel, from all of us Iranians🍾🎗️ pic.twitter.com/jLl33DLwaj

— 𓄂✺Yaar - يار ‌‌دبستانی🎗️ (@YaarDabestaani) September 27, 2024

This was Hassan Nasrallah’s bunker, from which he ordered attacks on Israel. This is what remains of it, and what remains for him 👇 pic.twitter.com/CajiFIBHWw

— Solomon Dominic (@Solomon68913499) September 28, 2024

👀 IDF: “We Will Reach Everyone, Everywhere”: Israeli Air Force Fighter Jets Involved in the Elimination of Hassan Nasrallah and Hezbollah’s Central Headquarters in Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/okvStOcfSQ

— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) September 28, 2024

In a way, this parody tweet about Nasrallah's death is accurate.

.@realDonaldTrump describes how Hassan Nasrallah died 👇 pic.twitter.com/gLDTTZ7tIE

— Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) September 27, 2024

Nasrallah died as he lived, cowering behind a shield of women and children.

If you were expecting outrage in the region, you need to think again.

Syrians are handing out sweets and celebrating the elimination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah (his death is not officially confirmed) pic.twitter.com/57RGDoBYWr

— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) September 27, 2024

Syrians in northwest Syria are celebrating rumors of Nasrallah killing in Beirut. pic.twitter.com/CmJKRXTe0d

— Fared Al Mahlool | فريد المحلول (@FARED_ALHOR) September 27, 2024

The Sunni Arabs of Lebanon’s second-largest city Tripoli are out on the streets dancing to celebrate what they believe to be an upcoming announcement of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s death pic.twitter.com/TMl5N5Q30S

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) September 28, 2024

People in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and other parts of the Middle East are celebrating Hassan Nasrallah's elimination. #HassanNasrallah https://t.co/wQHMpRvXHA pic.twitter.com/3s2ClZBQLf

— AsianFin 亞財社 (@AsianFinPress) September 28, 2024

These people who suffered from Hezbollah's thuggishness and the perpetual war it created are not sad to see Nasrallah and his ilk destroyed.

It is too early to draw definitive lessons from Israel's post-October 7th campaign against institutional terrorism in the Middle East, but I think there are reasons to be hopeful.

When the much-maligned Jared Kushner undertook his mission to rearrange the strategic map of the Middle East, he intuited that attempting to negotiate with the "Palestinian" leadership was a dead end for the simple reason that those people knew the only way they could stay in power was by promoting victimhood and refusing to negotiate. When the farcical "two state solution" was abandoned, Israel was able to achieve normalized, or at least non-hostile relations with historic foes such as Saudi Arabia. 

Nasrallah has been kept in power by Iran, but also by a US foreign policy establishment that subsidized Hezbollah in Lebanon. Nasrallah's atomization and the ongoing Israeli campaign against Hezbollah that has either killed or chased underground anyone who might be construed as a leader in Hezbollah opens a vital window for someone else to fill the power vacuum. If that strategic void is filled by anyone other than Iran's stooges, then the region's security structure could be reordered. I would argue the region is tired of fighting and would really like to do something else, and absent the Iranian-grafted cancer that is Hezbollah, change is possible.

Just two final points. First, Netanyahu's speech at the UN spelled out the issue in no uncertain terms. The region can stagger on in a state of poverty, terrorism, and warfare, or it can pull the plug on the old way of doing business and work together to lift up all nations in the region.

This is not hyperbole; this is a crossroads.

RELATED: Netanyahu Gives Fiery Speech to UN Declaring Israel Has Had Enough

Second, the idea that warfare is an exercise in proportionality has been permanently discredited. I'm a Catholic, and before that, I was an ardent student of military history. I understand "Just War" theory, and I also understand why it is wrong. A proportionate response is guaranteed to prolong conflicts and increase casualties on both sides. As a Southerner, I think the South was much better off for Sherman's March to the Sea and Phil Sheridan's rampage up the Shenandoah Valley than it would have been if the war had extended for another two or three years as the Army of the Potomac ground its way through Virginia and North Carolina. Proportionality is a sop to the conscience; it is nothing more than virtue signaling. Israel's response to the October 7 Massacre is showing the very real possibility of ending the so-called "cycle of violence."

(This is from one of my favorite TV series, Mr. Inbetween.)