In a televised address on Thursday, the Shiite leader acknowledged that the attack on pagers and hand-held radios had dealt a 'severe blow' to his organization, but insisted that Israel had 'not achieved its objective.

Backed by Iran and hated by Israel, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah is Lebanon's most powerful man.Hezbollah is the only group that refused to give up its weapons after Lebanon's 15-year civil war ended in 1990,

Armed militant group, Hezbollah's chief Hassan Nasrallah is Lebanon's "most powerful" man who enjoys a cult status among his Shiite supporters. He has rarely been seen in public since his Shiite movement fought a devastating 2006 war pitting his fighters against Israeli troops.