Israel has confirmed the killing of Hashem Safieddine, a high-ranking Hezbollah leader and presumed successor to Hassan Nasrallah, in an airstrike on southern Beirut in early October.
Safieddine was the head of Hezbollah’s executive council and a key political figure.
The Israeli military announced on Tuesday evening that airstrikes in the Dahiyeh suburb had killed Safieddine and Ali Hussein Hazima, the head of Hezbollah’s intelligence branch, three weeks earlier. The airstrike also killed 25 other leaders.
This blow to Hezbollah’s leadership comes amid escalating fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, with ongoing airstrikes and clashes along the Israel-Lebanon border.
Hezbollah is yet to comment on Safieddine’s death.
Following Safieddine’s death, Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general, is now the sole remaining member of the group’s public-facing senior leadership. Qassem has represented Hezbollah since Nasrallah’s assassination but lacks the widespread popularity that the former secretary general commanded among supporters.
“We reached [Hassan] Nasrallah, his replacement, and most of Hezbollah’s leadership. We will know how to reach anyone who threatens the security of Israel’s citizens,” IDF Chief of Staff Lt Gen Herzi Halevi said in remarks provided by the military, according to The Times of Israel.
A source close to Hezbollah told AFP in early October that Safieddine was considered the “most likely” candidate for the party’s leadership.
The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel began after Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel on 8 October 2023 in “solidarity” with Hamas’s attack on Israel the day before. Hostilities have sharply intensified since Israel launched “Operation Northern Arrows” on 23 September.
Over the past year, more than 2,500 people have been killed, and over 11,850 have been wounded in Lebanon.
Last week, Israel targeted and killed Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, in Gaza.
More follows.