Israel announced Saturday that it had killed Hassan Nasrallah, the longtime leader of Hezbollah, in a series of massive airstrikes that rocked Beirut on Friday evening. An Iran-backed militia later confirmed Nasrallah’s death.

The statement came after an eventful and deadly 12 days of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah – which included the killing of several other senior Hezbollah officials and more than 1,000 people in Lebanon after a series of near-synchronized explosions, followed by thousands of Israeli airstrikes over several days. These attacks left thousands more injured and tens of thousands of people forced from their homes.

Hezbollah also retaliated against Israel, firing hundreds of rockets toward northern Israel and at least one long-range cruise missile toward Tel Aviv, which was intercepted by Israeli air defense systems. This was the first time a militant group had done something like this. Although most of these missiles were shot down, a few penetrated the fire, causing damage to residential houses, the regional hospital and wounding several civilians.

Here is a more detailed timeline of these dramatic events:

September 17: Thousands of pagers – many belonging to Hezbollah members – explode simultaneously across Lebanon and Syria, killing at least 13 people, including several children, and injuring approximately 4,000, hundreds of them critically. Israel is widely believed to be behind the attack, but has not publicly claimed credit for it. Earlier in the day, Israel announced a new war goal: the return of tens of thousands of displaced Israelis who were driven from their homes near the border with Lebanon by nearly a year of Hezbollah rocket fire, signaling that it may require further military action against Hezbollah.

Houssam Shbaro/Anadolu via Getty Images

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Anadolu via Getty Images

September 18: According to Lebanese health officials, a new wave of explosions in communication devices, including walkie-talkies, is hitting Lebanon, killing 14 people and injuring about 450. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks of the “excellent achievements” of Israeli military and intelligence units that led to the “impressive results” but makes no mention of the device attacks that occurred in the previous two days.

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AFP via Getty Images

September 19: Israel says it has hit hundreds of rocket launchers in southern Lebanon, putting them out of service.

September 20: Israel strikes an apartment building in a crowded suburb of Beirut during rush hour, then announces that it has killed Ibrahim Akil, the military commander of Hezbollah. Thirty-seven people, including entire families, died in the strike, and dozens were injured. Hezbollah later confirmed Akil’s death along with 15 other Hezbollah members. According to the State Department, Akil was wanted by the United States for his role in the deadly 1983 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. The Israeli military said Akil was planning an attack on northern Israel similar to the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack that sparked the Gaza war.

September 21: The Israel Air Force is striking about 400 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, including rocket launchers and additional military infrastructure in southern Lebanon, saying the launchers were aimed at Israel. Lebanon’s Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi says his intelligence agencies are working to dismantle the spy network, saying Lebanon has a “fragile and dangerous” security climate.

AFP / via Getty Images

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via Getty Images

September 22: Hezbollah and Israel maintain heavy fire during the night and early morning hours. Residents in southern Lebanon described huge explosions that lit up the night sky. The Israeli military said it hit about 290 targets, including Hezbollah rocket launchers, while some Hezbollah rockets hit Israel deeper than earlier in the war.

September 23: Israel is urging residents of southern Lebanon to leave just hours before it launches more than 1,300 airstrikes in the area. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, at least 558 people, including women, children and health workers, were killed in these strikes and more than 1,800 were injured. This is the highest single-day death toll in Lebanon in decades. On the same day, Hezbollah fired approximately 200 rockets into northern Israel, most of which were intercepted by Israeli air defense systems. In the evening, Israel attacks the apartment in Beirut where Ali Karaki, the commander of Hezbollah’s southern front and third in the organization’s hierarchy, was staying. He will survive.

Sirens blare in the northern Israeli city of Haifa and nearby towns. Israel said Haifa was targeted for the first time since the war began almost a year ago.

Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP via Getty Images

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AFP via Getty Images

September 24: Hezbollah and Israel continue to exchange fire throughout the night. Israel is issuing more warnings to residents of southern Lebanon to flee while also heavily bombarding the area with hundreds of additional airstrikes, killing dozens more – including two UN workers – and wounding many others. Iran’s president warns in an interview with CNN that Lebanon must not become “another Gaza at the hands of Israel.” Israel claims that the head of Hezbollah’s missile division, Ibrahim Kobeissi, was killed in the Beirut attack.

September 25: Early in the morning, Hezbollah fires a long-range missile that reaches Tel Aviv airspace before being shot down by Israeli forces – the first time a militant group has fired such a missile into central Israel. According to Lebanese health officials, Israel continued its airstrike campaign across much of southern Lebanon, killing at least another 72 people and wounding about 400. The Israeli military also announces that it is raising two additional reserve brigades in the north, stating that it must “prepare very strongly” ” for a land invasion of southern Lebanon.

Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP via Getty Images

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AFP via Getty Images

September 26: Against the backdrop of the UN General Assembly in New York, the United States and France, supported by other G-7 members, propose a 21-day ceasefire plan between Israel and Lebanon. Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, quickly reject it.

According to Lebanese health officials, Hezbollah is firing dozens of rockets into northern Israel, most of which were intercepted, while Israel says it has carried out more than 200 airstrikes in Lebanon, killing another 92 people and wounding more than 150. This brings the total number of people killed in Lebanon by Israeli airstrikes within a week to over 700. Tens of thousands of Lebanese are displaced as they flee constant Israeli bombardment. Lebanese officials say it is the largest displacement in the country in decades.

Israel later claims to have killed Hezbollah air force commander Mohammed Hussein Sarour in an attack in southern Beirut.

September 27: In a fiery speech at the UN General Assembly in New York, Netanyahu says Israel is “winning” on many fronts and will attack Iran and its proxies anywhere in the Middle East. Many delegates in the UN hall walk out in public disdain at the beginning of his speech, in which he calls the UN “a swamp of anti-Semitic bile.”

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Getty Images

Shortly after Netanyahu finishes his speech, several Israeli airstrikes rocked southern Beirut in a series of explosions that could be felt throughout the city. The strikes demolished many apartment buildings in southern Beirut, which Israeli officials almost immediately renamed as Hezbollah’s headquarters, even as clouds of smoke and debris from the explosion hung over the city.

September 28: Hours later, the Israeli military announces that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has been killed in a strike in Beirut. Hezbollah later confirms his death. Analysts say Nasrallah’s killing has transformed an already complex and deadly regional conflict, with a wide range of potential impacts for Israel, Gaza, Lebanon and beyond.

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AP