Eastern German legislature elects mainstream conservative speaker after far-right election win

BERLIN (AP) — Lawmakers elected a mainstream conservative as speaker of the state parliament in eastern Germany's Thuringia region on Saturday, putting aside a convention that the strongest party gets the job after the far-right Alternative for Germany won a regional election for the first time.

The center-right Christian Democratic Union's Thadäus König was elected in a parliamentary session that stretched over two days, punctuated by a court ruling against the conduct of the far-right politician who chaired the proceedings.

It underlined the prospect of a very bumpy parliamentary term after the Sept. 1 election in which Alternative for Germany, or AfD, finished first with nearly one-third of the vote — the first far-right win in a state election in post-World War II Germany. However, it fell well short of a majority, and no other party wants to govern with it.

The legislature in Erfurt was supposed to elect its speaker on Thursday. In Thuringia, as in other German states, the first session after an election is chaired by the oldest lawmaker — in this case, AfD's Jürgen Treutler.

Treutler drew criticism in a turbulent and often-interrupted meeting for refusing to allow lawmakers to speak, put forward motions or debate allowing all parties, not just AfD, to put forward candidates for the speaker's job.

The CDU protested to Thuringia's constitutional court, which ruled Friday that the rules of procedure can be changed before a speaker is elected.

In a calmer session Saturday, lawmakers elected König over AfD candidate Wiebke Muhsal by 54 votes to 32, with one abstention. AfD has 32 lawmakers.

By convention, thought not by law, the speaker’s job usually goes to the strongest party. But other parties had said they wouldn't elect an AfD candidate and also objected to Muhsal, as she was fined for fraud years ago.

It remains to be seen whether and when parties will manage to put together a state government. No one wants to work with AfD. The domestic intelligence agency has the party's Thuringia branch, led by prominent hard-right figure Björn Höcke, under official surveillance as a “proven right-wing extremist” group.

The only alternative is an improbable alliance of the CDU, a new party led by a prominent leftist and the center-left Social Democrats. That would be one seat short of a majority and would probably need some kind of help from the Left Party, which has communist roots.

Christian Democratic Union's Thadäus König, as the new state parliament president, attends during the constituent session of the Thuringian state parliament in Erfurt, Germany Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Martin Schutt/dpa via AP)

Jürgen Treutler, AfD member of parliament and former president, attends during the constituent session of the Thuringian state parliament in Erfurt, Germany Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Martin Schutt/dpa via AP)

Members of parliament attend the constituent session of the Thuringian state parliament in Erfurt, Germany Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Martin Schutt/dpa/dpa via AP)

Christian Democratic Union's Thadäus König, as the new state parliament president, poses during the constituent session of the Thuringian state parliament in Erfurt, Germany Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Martin Schutt/dpa via AP)

J'rgen Treutler, right, AfD member of parliament and senior president, congratulates Christian Democratic Union's Thadäus König on his election as state parliament president during the constituent session of the Thuringian state parliament in Erfurt, Germany Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Martin Schutt/dpa via AP)

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel said Saturday that it killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, dealing its most significant blow to the Lebanese militant group after months of fighting. There was no immediate confirmation from Hezbollah.

If the claim is true, Nasrallah is by far the most powerful target to be killed by Israel in weeks of intensified fighting with Hezbollah. The military said it carried out a precise airstrike on Friday while Hezbollah leadership met at their headquarters in Dahiyeh, south of Beirut.

Israel’s Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said Saturday that the elimination of Nasrallah was “not the end of our toolbox,” indicating that more strikes were planned. He said that the strike targeting Hezbollah leadership was the result of a long period of preparation.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said six people were killed and 91 injured in the strikes Friday, which leveled six apartment buildings. Ali Karki, the Commander of Hezbollah’s Southern Front, and additional Hezbollah commanders, were also killed in the attack, the Israeli military said.

The Israeli military said it was mobilizing additional reserve soldiers as tensions escalate with Lebanon, activating three battalions of reserve soldiers to serve across the country. The call comes after it sent two brigades to northern Israel earlier in the week to train for a possible ground invasion.

Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an army spokesman, said the airstrike was based on years of tracking Nasrallah along with “real time intelligence” that made it viable. He said Nasrallah’s death had been confirmed through various types of intelligence, but declined to elaborate.

Shoshani said that Israel has inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah’s capabilities over the past week by targeting a combination of immediate threats and strategic weapons, such as larger, guided missiles. But he said much of Hezbollah’s arsenal still remains intact and that Israel would continue to target the group.

“This isn’t a threat that has gone away,” he said.

Shoshani said it is “safe to assume” that Hezbollah will retaliate and that Israel is on “high readiness.”

But he said Israel hopes the blow to Hezbollah will change the course of the war.

“We hope this will change Hezbollah’s actions,” he said. “We have been looking for solutions, looking for a change in reality that will bring our civilians home,” referring to the approximately 60,000 Israelis who have been evacuated from their homes along the Lebanese border for almost a year. Earlier this month, Israel's government said halting Hezbollah’s attacks in the country’s north to allow residents to return to their homes is an official war goal.

Shoshani declined to say what munitions were used in the strike or provide an estimate on civilian deaths in the strike, only saying that Israel takes measures to avoid civilians whenever possible and clears strikes ahead of time with intelligence and legal experts.

If correct, Nasrallah’s death is a “historical moment,” said Orna Mizrahi, a senior researcher at the Tel Aviv-based think tank Institute for National Security Studies and former intelligence analyst for the Israeli military and prime minister’s office. “This doesn’t mean that Hezbollah is destroyed, because Hezbollah is made up tens of thousands of people,” she said.

Mizrahi noted that Nasrallah was sometimes a “voice of reason,” interested in engaging Israel in a war of attrition and holding the militant group back from using the full force of their formidable arsenal against Israel. If Nasrallah has been removed, that could prompt some less senior members of Hezbollah to unleash much stronger weapons than have been used in the nearly yearlong exchange of hostilities between Hezbollah and Lebanon, she said. The biggest question mark right now, though, is how Iran will respond, said Mizrahi.

Mizrahi added that Nasrallah's reported death could provide a window of opportunity, while the organization is significantly weakened, for Lebanon to dilute Hezbollah’s far-reaching influence, especially in the south, that threatens to drag Lebanon into a full-scale war with Israel.

On Saturday morning, the Israeli military carried out several strikes in southern Beirut and eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley. Hezbollah launched dozens of projectiles across northern and central Israel and deep into the Israel-occupied West Bank.

In Beirut’s southern suburbs, smoke rose and the streets were empty after the area was pummeled overnight by heavy Israeli airstrikes. Shelters set up in the city center for displaced people were overflowing. Many families slept in public squares and beaches or in their cars. On the roads leading to the mountains above the capital, hundreds of people could be seen making an exodus on foot, holding infants and whatever belongings they could carry.

At least 720 people have been killed in Lebanon over the past week from Israeli airstrikes, according to the Health Ministry.

Mroue reported from Beirut.

FILE - In this Oct. 24, 2015 file photo, Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah addresses a crowd during the holy day of Ashoura, in a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

Israeli soldiers work on tanks in northern Israel on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Smoke and fire rise following an Israeli airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Rescuers arrive near the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Rescuers arrive near the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A wounded man sits in an ambulance at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Lebanese citizens watch smoke rise from Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Flames rise after an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Rescuers gather as smoke rises from a collapsed building at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

An Israeli soldier carries a shell next to a tank in northern Israel on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)