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 Some US officials applaud news of Nasrallah's death — even as fears of wider conflict grow

Some senior US officials celebrated the news of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s death in a major Israeli airstrike in Beirut, Lebanon — even despite growing concerns about the possibility of another full-scale war  breaking out in the Middle East.

“It’s welcome,” one senior US administration official told  after both the Israel Defense Forces and Hezbollah confirmed Nasrallah’s death. “He has massive American blood on his hands.”

President Joe Biden and the White House have yet to comment on the news of Nasrallah’s death, and the US has not said whether its own intelligence confirms his killing. The US and much of the Western world designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.

“Nobody here is mourning Nasrallah,” another senior administration official told , referring to the Hezbollah leader as a “terrorist” and “killer.”

As of Saturday morning, it was simply too early to know what implications his death would have in the region and on the looming possibility of a major escalation, that official said.

The US’ posture for now is to be prepared for a range of possible retaliation — but whether that would come from Hezbollah, Iran or both, was unknowable for now, they said.

Had the events of the past few days taken place six months ago, the risk of a second major war might have been even greater, a senior US administration official said. But Hezbollah and Iran — which backs the militant group — have been weakened, the official added.

Another senior US official previously  the US believes Iran will intervene in the conflict if they determine that  they are about to lose Hezbollah, its most powerful proxy group.

The US has been leading an effort on a  21-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah across the Israel-Lebanon border. Those talks now appear entirely up in the air.

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