This is brand new video just to us. Israel says it struck the central headquarters of hezbollah in Southern Lebanon. You can see in this video the blast was massive. And israeli official tells Nbc News the target was hezbollahs powerful leader. It comes as israel has been systematically targeting high level commanders of the u. S. Designated terror group, both within and abroad, which prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says israel will continue to do in order to defend itself from groups looking to eliminate the state. Nbcs Matt Bradley is live in beirut for us. Also with us, aaron david miller, former arabisraeli negotiator, and Senior Fellow at the endowment for peace. Give us the latest. Reporter we were here a couple of hours ago when our walls of our hotel shook. You cant see it now but it was just over my right shoulder here in southern beirut. This is a neighborhood that has endured repeated israeli bombardments all week long. And most of that, as you just mentioned in your introduction have been targeting top level commanders. They have also killed quite a few other people including civilians. This was the largest by far that we have heard in beirut, ever since we came last week, really, ever since i have been covering this since october 8th, the day after the October 7th attacks set off the latest round of firing. Israelis said they were targeting the Secretary General of hezbollah, it looks as though, according to israeli media, that its not certain that he was killed, and in fact, it looks as though he might have survived, according to arab media. Were going to have to wait to hear more about that. Regardless, this seems like a pivotal moment, a real Paradigm Shift in israels now weeklong escalation of conflict with hezbollah. What happens next, we dont really know, but this could all be preparing for what we have heard in just the past couple of days from top level Israeli Military generals that there is going to be a Ground Invasion or preparations being made for a Ground Invasion of lebanon or this could just be trying to push or trying to sort of Decapitate Hezbollah and trying to cow them into stopping attacks on northern israel. Its unclear, but we have heard that Benjamin Netanyahu, israels Prime Minister, has cut short his trip to New York, to the United Nations and is now headed back to israel tonight. Its rare that we see the Prime Minister traveling on shabbat, so that is kind of new, and that makes it look as though something big is either about to happen or the israelis are expecting a massive retaliation. I was going to ask you about the timing. Given that its very rare for him to travel on shabbat, i was wondering if the timing was linked to his speech at the u. N. Where he said he was going to go after hezbollah, he was going to go after their leaders, they were going after anybody who was threatening the state of israel. Now im wondering if we can say that the two were linked. Npr is reporting that there was a pretty big Funeral Service and marching through the streets in that neighborhood for another Hezbollah Leader at the time of the strike. I have to tell you, its unclear. I try to hesitate when i try to make connections between timings of things. Its all speculation, and we dont really know. The fact is this did happen really moments after Benjamin Netanyahu finished his very controversial and much anticipated speech to the u. N. General assembly where he said he was going to be doing exactly this. Pursuing not just hezbollah and attacks around the country, but also that he was confronting iran, hezbollahs named benefactor. You know, the fact is all of this is happening in the midst of a real diplomatic scurry, an attempt by various countries here in the arab world, also in the west, as far as australia, the european union. Its led by france and the united states, trying to get lebanon, and israel to agree to some sort of deal that would bring some measure of peace to Southern Lebanon, and northern israel, and maybe halt what could be coming, an israeli Ground Invasion. Hezbollah isnt involved in the negotiations because of course most of the countries dont have direct diplomatic ties with hezbollah because in the united states, for example, they consider hezbollah to be a terrorist organization. They do not speak to them, the idea being that lebanon would exceed the deal and then lebanon would do its best to reign in and abide by the terms. Whether or not the diplomats get to something, whether or not theyre able to ink this deal in time to prevent an israeli Ground Invasion that could kill scores more than we have already seen, an unprecedented week of Fighting And Death in Southern Lebanon. We are seeing, like, more than 700 people have now been killed, ever since the latest escalation broke off in earnest on monday. Thats more than we have seen since the end, in a single day or a severalday long period. Its more than we have seen since the end of the Civil War in lebanon in 1990. So all of this really does look as though its pointing to major events going forward, what those are. Your guess is as good as mine. Yeah, i will say this, Benjamin Netanyahu tried to reframe the Conversation Today and reframe the blame at the u. N. He blamed hezbollah as hes blamed hamas for putting missiles in homes, rockets in garages, putting civilians at risk. He said the israelis have told civilians to Leavement Hezbollah leave. Hezbollah is The One taking lives. And he talked about systematically going after senior Military Commanders who he says not only are shedding israeli blood but american and french blood, trying to call out allies here as well, and hes going to continue to go after their replacements. And the replacements and the replacements, until they meet their objectives. Aaron david miller, im going to bring you in on this. Matt is talking about how this moment feels different than others. Whats your sense of things . I have been really reluctant and hesitant to make a judgment that were really headed for what i think we all fear, which is a major escalation between israel and hezbollah, which not only involves an israeli Ground Up in Southern Lebanon, but Hezbollahs Use of its Precision Guided Missiles of which they have around 400. They can launch 3,000 missiles a day. That sort of saturation against israel, even with israels sophisticated air layer defense, iron dome, David Sling and the arrow, youre talking hundreds if not more israeli deaths, the infrastructure grid, and youre talking about an israeli Preemption And Reaction in lebanon that would kill thousands of lebanese. Southern beirut, which has as many as A Million people. We havent gotten the Casualty Reports yet, the lebanese ministry of Health Thing was reporting two dead and 78 wounded. Thats clearly very preliminary. Going after nasrallah who moves around a lot, rarely seen in public, the question i have tactically is whether or not netanyahu had given a Standing Order to israeli intelligence, and idf, should they identify his location to act and maybe just hours before the Prime Ministers speech, perhaps even during the speech, they identified where he was and then tried to strike. Sparse hezbollahs reaction, it seems to me, which was on Life Support even before this happened, proposed by the u. S. And french is simply not going to work. Hezbollah has a credibility, legitimacy problem, depending on the Death Count in the southern suburbs. You could be talking the largest single casualty strike. That means this is going to go on with the risks of escalation, higher, i think, than they have ever been. So they fired on Tel Aviv the other day, hezbollah did. The houthis fired again on Tel Aviv. I believe it was late last night. Early this morning. Israeli time. There has been calls by hezbollah to iran to get into this battle. We have a statement from Irans Embassy in beirut, blaming the israelis, saying theyre committing bloody massacre. Theyre targeting densely populated residential neighborhoods, issues false justifications. I mean, hezbollah is putting these missiles into neighborhoods. I dont think we should lose sight of that. How likely is it, i mean, iran has said it doesnt want to get involved. Doesnt want a regional war. How likely is it that iran is going to become more directly involved . At what point will that country feel that their hands are tied or they will be forced to move. I guess thats the million Dollar Question . I mean, i think, look, hezbollah is an iranian proxy and asset. Its high trajectory weapons are preserved, however, not to liberate palestine or even fight israelis, its a contingency in the event the u. S. And or israel, engaged in direct attacks against iranian territory, particularly against iranian nuclear enrichment facilities. Thats what those high trajectory weapons are there for. I think for teheran, still very risk averse, needs to make a calculation. How much trouble is hezbollah in . Is it going to reserve its response against israel in the event the Israelis Escalate by launching a Ground Op into Southern Lebanon . Or is it going to show support in response to the assassination, which the israelis have not claimed responsibility for, on July 31st in teheran. They vowed they were going to respond to that. So, again, the cusp of escalation, yes, but not quite at the point where i think were moving towards something the Middle East has never experienced before. Which would be a multifront war, not with Ground Forces but the use of uavs, ai, cyber, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, strikes against population centers, an israeliiranian exchange, with the u. S. with at least one Carrier Strike brought into the east with tremendous fire power. Were moving closer, perhaps to that. Again aaron diplomacy, maybe, but not now. I want to interrupt because were looking at live images of Search And Rescue in beirut. We have just seen, it appears to be a father and at least two young children and another, i think a third as well, pulled from the rubble of at least one of the strikes. It appears it was multiple strikes. Maybe it was a Cascading Effect from other Ground Level Artillery or missiles. Im not sure. But were watching these images of families being taken away and giving medical treatment. These are exactly the images that i imagine that groups like hezbollah and hamas, and iran want the world to see, the destruction caused by israeli missiles. Look what theyre doing to families. Look what theyre doing look at the way they treat lebanese life, the way they treat palestinian life, et cetera. How does israel reckon with the need to go after hezbollah or hamas, and the fact that they are embedded in residential neighborhoods. They are embedded within civilian populations. Well, youve watched 11 months now, of israels efforts to prosecute a war. Its not going so well for Israels Reputation . Well, no, the israeli brand, whether or not its permanently tarnished or undermined here or in the international community, thats clearly the headline, whether thats going to be the Trend Line is unclear to me. That is going to turn, i think, katy, on whether or not theres a Leadership Change in israel, which is critically important. You know, i would only point out the obvious, when the Middle East trends toward the positive, when were talking about deescalation and actually reaching agreements, its because we have leaders that are willing and able to rise above perhaps their own ideologies, to do whats in the best interest of their respective people, king hussein, and rabin. Apartheid ended in South Africa in a way no one would have participated largely because of mandela, and i would say without putting Benjamin Netanyahu in the same category as hasan, and the supreme leader. If these are the four leaders that are essentially making the tactical and strategic decisions for this piece of the region, i mean, i think were in serious trouble. And again, i would not trivialize Israels Security needs, its requirements, legitimacy of responding against hezbollah. I mean, after all, this is not israel and the palestinians. This is israel and an organization in violation of its security resolution, that compelled them to the river, and israel has every right, it seems to me to protect its border and see the return of its citizens. The implications of carrying out that right. Yeah. Involving moral and ethical choices, and the deaths of innocents. Thats where this becomes almost impossible to unwind but imperative is to make it stop. Yeah. I think thats well put. Aaron david miller, thank you very much. Matt bradley, thank you as well. We hope youre safe out there. To our other top story. It may not be a hurricane anymore, but helene is still pretty dangerous. This is brand new drone video, youre going to see it in a moment, showing the widespread destruction in tampa. The storm made landfall in florida as a category 4 and now as a tropical depression, its rushing inland bringing flooding and powerful winds to georgia, the carolinas, and tennessee. At this hour, the Death Toll is 25. Most killed by falling trees. Others by drowning. 4 Million people are also without power from florida to kentucky. The rising Water Levels are now the biggest risk. Flood emergencies and evacuations are happening throughout the southeast, including in north carolina, where Lake Lore Dam is overflowing. In South Pasadena florida, it is worse. And fire, that was this overnight. Look at these houses on fire amid the Flood Waters. Meanwhile, In Atlanta, welfare checks looking for anyone who needs a ride out to safety. Weve got our reporters in the major hot spots. Lets begin in georgia where at least 11 people have died. Nbcs Priya Sridhar is live In Atlanta for us. Reporter thats right. Here In Atlanta, there was a Flood Emergency issued. Thats extremely rare. Sometimes we see Flood Watches and flood warnings, but a Flood Emergency is something that people In Atlanta basically never see. Thats because of what happened right behind me here. This is one of several neighborhoods here In Atlanta thats basically completely submerged. If you take a look at the mailbox behind me in the o vehicle, you can see just how deep that water is. Many residents were able to get out overnight, as they discovered their homes were flooded. Others ended up getting stranded inside their Homes Today awaiting Rescue Teams to come and take them out. There were dozens of swift water rescues. Fire crews going Door To door, asking people to evacuate. This is still very much an ongoing problem right now. Also, those heavy Wind Gusts that you mentioned, knocking down power, leaving about A Million people here in georgia without power. Governor kemp, of course, issuing a State Of Emergency here. Every single county across the state, being touched by this tropical storm. And of course, all of this is also having impacted on the worlds busiest airport here In Atlanta. Dozens of Flight Cancellations and delays, likely to have a Ripple Effect across the country. The Coast Guard released this footage of a Man And Dog being rescued after their sailboat became disabled off floridas Sanibel Island as a hurricane was nearing. They were placed in a basket, as you can see, and lifted safely into a helicopter. Its one of the many rescues we have seen out of florida. Lets go to Jesse Kirsch in perry. It looks dry there, not good, but dry. Reporter i think this is just another reminder. We talk about hurricanes, the biggest concern is always the water compared to the wind. The wind is no joke either. We have damage inland. Im going to have our producer come with me. The building, the windows are Blown Out. Were going to walk over. That is also something were dealing with, power outages, and Cell Reception issues. Theres shattered glass along the wall. A Brick Wall Blown Out. Last year, Blown Out, replaced with siding, also Blown Out as well. One business in downtown perry, if we move over to the main road now, youll see traffic moving. The walmart is open. Had the lights on remarkable. Thats good news. Its cool in there because it is sunny and hot out here. The Damage Aspect seems to be okay compared to what we could have been seeing. We took a direct hit from the eye wall. Our team was out there briefly, and we were being moved by the winds ourselves, and made our way inside, and just looking at all the things that could have become projectiles, things remarkably look okay, all things considered in perry. Jesse kirsch, thank you so much. To give a sense of how ferocious this storm was, look at this doorbell cam, it shows Helenes Storm Surge sweeping past a driveway, moments before the camera was submerged by Flood Waters, and flooding remains a big concern across the southeast. Nbcs Bill Karins is Tracking Helene for us. Wher