File photo of senior Hezbollah official Syed Hashem Saffieddin | Photo: Reuters
Israel’s military said on Tuesday (Oct 22, 2024) that one of its airstrikes outside Beirut earlier this month killed a senior Hezbollah official who was expected to be the group’s next leader.
There was no immediate confirmation from the armed group on the fate of Hashem Safieddin.
Saffieddin, an influential cleric in the party ranks, was expected to succeed Hassan Nasrallahone of the group’s founders, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in September.
Israel said Safieddine was killed in an airstrike in early October in a southern suburb of Beirut. About 25 other Hezbollah leaders were killed in the strike, Israel said.
Israeli strikes in recent months have killed much of Hezbollah’s senior leadership, leaving the group in disarray.
The suburb of Beirut where Safieddine was killed was hit by a series of new airstrikes on Tuesday. The Israeli army has leveled a building in the Beirut suburb of Dahiye that it says houses Hezbollah facilities.
The airstrike came 40 minutes after Israel issued a warning to evacuate two buildings in the area that it said were being used by Hezbollah.
Hezbollah’s chief spokesman, Mohammed Afif, said the group was behind Saturday’s drone attack on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in the coastal city of Caesarea. He hinted that he might attempt future strikes on Netanyahu’s home. Israel said neither the prime minister nor his wife were home at the time of the attack.
Published – 23 Oct 2024 03:00 AM IST
