Israel's army confirmed on Tuesday that it killed Hashem Safieddine, who was seen as the likely successor to Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah. He was killed in a strike three weeks ago in a suburb in southern Beirut. 

"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," said the army in a statement.

However, Hezbollah has not yet released any statement regarding the allegation. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated on October 8 that Safieddine had been "taken out" by the military. Although, he did not specifically name him. Netanyahu declared in a speech to the Lebanon people that Israeli soldiers "took out thousands of terrorists, including (Hezbollah leader Hassan) Nasrallah himself and Nasrallah's replacement and the replacement of his replacement." 

The army stated late Tuesday that Israel's air force "conducted a precise, intelligence-based strike on Hezbollah's main intelligence headquarters," three weeks ago in the Lebanese capital's southern district of Dahiyeh, which is home to Hezbollah's stronghold. According to the statement, more than 25 Hezbollah members, "including Bilal Saib Aish, who was in charge of aerial intelligence gathering," were inside the headquarters when the strike occurred.

According to a high-level Hezbollah source at the time, Safieddine, a distant relative of Nasrallah and a member of Hezbollah's decision-making council, had not spoken to anyone since Israeli strikes on Beirut weeks prior. Safieddine, a profoundly religious cleric with solid ties to Iran, and a supporter of Hezbollah, was the "most likely" contender for the party's top position, a Hezbollah insider told AFP in early October.

Bespectacled and grey-bearded, Safieddine looked a lot like his distant cousin Nasrallah, although he was a few years younger, in his late 50s or early 60s. In a statement released late Tuesday following the confirmation of Safieddine's passing, Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi claimed, "We have reached Nasrallah, his replacement, and most of Hezbollah's senior leadership."