Israel Confirms ‘Eliminating’ Potential Successor Of Slain Hezbollah Chief

Israel’s army acknowledged Tuesday that it “eliminated” Hezbollah’s Hashem Safieddine, an apparent successor to dead leader Hassan Nasrallah, in a hit in a southern Beirut suburb three weeks ago.

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

Hezbollah has yet to offer a statement about the claim.

On October 8, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the military had “taken out” Safieddine, without naming him.

In a speech to the people of Lebanon, Netanyahu stated that Israeli soldiers “took out thousands of terrorists, including (Hezbollah leader Hassan) Nasrallah himself, Nasrallah’s replacement, and the replacement of his replacement.”

Late on Tuesday, the army announced that Israel’s air force “conducted a precise, intelligence-based strike on Hezbollah’s main intelligence headquarters,” in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, Hezbollah’s bastion in the Lebanese capital three weeks ago.

According to the statement, approximately 25 Hezbollah fighters were present in the headquarters during the strike, “including Bilal Saib Aish, who was in charge of aerial intelligence gathering”.

Safieddine, a member of Hezbollah’s decision-making body and a distant relative of Nasrallah, has been out of communication since Israeli strikes on Beirut several weeks ago, according to a high-level Hezbollah source.

In early October, a Hezbollah source told AFP that the very religious priest Safieddine, who had solid links with Hezbollah’s ally Iran, was the “most likely” contender for the party’s top position.

Safieddine, a grey-bearded and bespectacled man, resembled his distant cousin Nasrallah but was several years younger, in his late 50s or early 60s.

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

After nearly a year of fighting with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza, Israel turned its attention to Lebanon in late September, vowing to defend its northern border, which was threatened by cross-border shooting from Hamas’ Lebanese ally Hezbollah.

Israel increased its air raids on Hezbollah strongholds around the nation and deployed ground forces late last month in a battle that has killed at least 1,552 people since September 23, according to an AFP compilation of Lebanese health ministry numbers.

On Tuesday evening, the Israeli military issued a second appeal for citizens to evacuate regions in Beirut’s southern suburbs, warning of imminent attacks.

In recent days, the military has targeted Hezbollah financial assets throughout the country.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah continues to launch rockets and missiles at Israel.

“As of 23:00 (2000 GMT), approximately 140 projectiles that were fired by the Hezbollah terrorist organization have crossed from Lebanon into Israel today,” the military said in a statement late on Tuesday.

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