Israeli airstrike targets Hezbollah's future leader Hashem Safieddine: Report
- In Reports
- 02:22 PM, Oct 04, 2024
- Myind Staff
Israeli launched a strike in Beirut that targeted senior Hezbollah leader Hashem Safieddine, who is considered the likely successor to the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, according to sources cited by Reuters. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and Hezbollah in Lebanon, however, have not released an official statement.
Israel launched a heavy barrage of airstrikes on Beirut at midnight on Thursday, possibly while Safieddine was attending a meeting of senior Hezbollah officials in an underground bunker, as reported by The New York Times. Since Israel killed Nasrallah, the area has seen some of the worst bombardments. The Israeli strike was far larger than the one that killed Nasrallah, according to news outlet Axios, which cited Lebanese media. It's unclear how many people have died so far.
The U.S. designated Hashem Safieddine as a terrorist in 2017. He is a member of the Jihad Council of Hezbollah, which oversees the organisation's military operations and plays a major role in its political affairs. Closely associated with the Iranian government, Safieddine, a cousin of Nasrallah, was widely regarded as Hezbollah's "number two."
Safieddine was given several powerful posts, some of which were more covert, by Nasrallah inside Hezbollah's councils. He has additionally served as the group's spokesperson on several occasions. However, In 2017, both Saudi Arabia and the US State Department designated him as a terrorist.
Meanwhile, Israel claims to have killed Mohammed Anisi, a senior Hezbollah official who was working on the organisation's development of precision-guided missiles, in a recent airstrike that went after Hezbollah's Beirut intelligence division. Hezbollah has not responded to the assertion made by the Israeli military.
As Israel intensified its offensive against Hezbollah on Thursday, a series of powerful explosions shook Beirut's southern suburbs, shaking buildings kilometers away and killing multiple people.
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