Israel confirms assassination of Hashem Safieddine, potential successor to slain Hezbollah chief Nasrallah

“It can now be confirmed that an attack about three weeks ago killed Hashem Safieddine, the head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council, and Ali Hussein Hazima, the head of Hezbollah’s Intelligence Directorate, along with other Hezbollah commanders,” he said. the army. a statement.

Hezbollah has not yet issued a statement on the claim.

On October 8, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military had “eliminated” Safieddine, without naming him specifically.

In an address to the people of Lebanon, Netanyahu said that Israeli forces have “eliminated thousands of terrorists, including (Hezbollah leader Hassan) Nasrallah himself and Nasrallah’s replacement and his replacement’s replacement.”

Late on Tuesday, the military said the Israeli Air Force carried out “a precise, intelligence-based strike on Hezbollah’s main intelligence headquarters” in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, Hezbollah’s stronghold in the Lebanese capital three weeks ago.

The statement added that more than 25 Hezbollah militants were present in the headquarters during the attack, “including Bilal Saib Aish, who was responsible for aerial intelligence collection.”

Safieddine, a member of Hezbollah’s decision-making body and a distant relative of Nasrallah, had been out of contact since the Israeli attacks on Beirut weeks ago, a senior Hezbollah source said at the time.

A source close to Hezbollah told AFP in early October that deeply religious cleric Safieddine, who had good relations with Hezbollah backer Iran, was the “most likely” candidate for the party’s top job.

Safieddine, with a gray beard and glasses, looked strikingly like his distant cousin Nasrallah, but was several years younger than him, in his late fifties or early sixties.

“We have reached Nasrallah, his replacement and most of Hezbollah’s senior leadership,” Israeli army chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said in a statement late Tuesday after confirming Safieddine’s death.

After nearly a year of war with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza, Israel shifted its attention to Lebanon in late September, vowing to secure its northern border, threatened by cross-border fire from Hamas’ Lebanese ally Hezbollah.

Israel has stepped up its airstrikes on Hezbollah strongholds across the country and sent ground troops late last month, in a war that has killed at least 1,552 people since September 23, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese Health Ministry figures.

The Israeli army issued new calls on Tuesday evening for residents to evacuate areas in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, warning of impending attacks.

In recent days, the military has attacked Hezbollah’s financial assets across the country.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, has continued to fire rockets into Israel.

“As of 11 p.m. (2000 GMT) today, approximately 140 projectiles fired by the terrorist organization Hezbollah entered Israel from Lebanon,” the army said in a statement late on Tuesday.

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