5 hours Ago By The Independent
has confirmed the killing of Hashem Safieddine, a and presumed successor to , in an airstrike on southern in early October. Safieddine was the head of Hezbollah’s executive council and a key political figure. The Israeli military announced on Tuesday evening 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 with ongoing airstrikes and clashes along the Israel-Lebanon border. Hezbollah is yet to comment on Safieddine’s death.
Following Safieddine’s death, , 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 . A source close to Hezbollah told 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, , the leader of Hamas, in Gaza.
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