Israel confirms the death of Hezbollah’s heir apparent

Safieddine is a cousin of former Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike late last month. The former had been seen as one of Nasrallah’s most important successors since the 1990s and often filled in for him when the former leader was out of the country.

“The IDF can now confirm that Hashem Safieddine, head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council, and Ali Hussein Hazima, commander of Hezbollah’s Intelligence Headquarters, were eliminated by the IDF, along with additional Hezbollah commanders,” it said Israeli army in a statement. “The terrorists were eliminated in an attack carried out about three weeks ago in the area of ​​Dahieh, a major Hezbollah terrorist stronghold in Beirut.”

The statement also said that the Israeli Air Force “conducted a precise, intelligence-based attack on Hezbollah’s main intelligence headquarters, which was deliberately located underground among the civilian population in the Dahieh,” and that 25 Hezbollah members were in the headquarters were when it was hit.

Videos of the attack showed a massive airstrike reminiscent of the attack that killed Nasrallah, with more than a dozen explosions and a huge fireball.

Hezbollah has remained silent about the attack. The Hezbollah-owned Al Manar news channel continued to report on the fighting in southern Lebanon as usual New York Times.

It was previously thought that Safieddine was killed earlier this month after going radio silence in the wake of another Israeli attack in Beirut. Tuesday’s Israeli statement confirmed the speculation.

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Hezbollah, perhaps the world’s most powerful paramilitary organization, has suffered heavy blows in the past month, including a devastating pager-walkie-talkie bombing and the assassination of almost its entire senior command. Hezbollah still has not announced a new leader after Nasrallah’s death, and the issue of succession will now become more complicated with Safieddine’s death.

Despite the heavy attacks, Hezbollah remains a capable organization, with tens of thousands of fighters, an extensive tunnel network throughout southern Lebanon and a huge rocket arsenal of tens of thousands of rockets. Attacks on Israel have become increasingly brazen in recent days, including a drone strike on one of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s homes.