Israeli airstrike takes out Hezbollah’s next hope: Nasrallah’s potential successor Hashem Safieddine presumed dead

Senior Hezbollah leader Hashem Safieddine — the seeming successor of slain group chief Hassan Nasrallah — is presumed dead after a barrage of Israeli strikes. The development came hours after Tel Aviv targeted the intelligence headquarters of Hezbollah in Beirut in a bid to eliminate Safieddine.

According to a report by Saudi Arabian news outlet Al Hadath, he was killed overnight between Friday and Saturday during an IDF strike in Dahieh. Senior Iranian commander Esmail Ghaani is also believed to have been injured during the same attack.

A Reuters update quoting Lebanese security sources add that Safieddine has been “unreachable” since Israeli strikes on Friday.

Israeli officials have not officially confirmed the death of Safieddine and maintained that its military was still assessing the situation. The IDF has earlier reported yhe death of Mohammad Rashid Sakafi — the Hezbollah communications network head.

The developments come less than a week after the death of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and several key members of the group as well as an Iranian Revolutionary Guards general. 

Hezbollah has not named an official successor.

The air attack on Beirut was part of a wider assault that has driven more than 1.2 million people from their homes in recent days. The Lebanese government has accused Israel of targeting civilians — pointing to the dozens of women and children among the casualties.

Officials say more than 2,000 peopthein Lebanon have been killed over the past year — most in the past two weeks. It has not broken down the overall figure between civilians and Hezbollah fighters. A separate update shared by Israeli forces on Friday afternoon indicated that it had struck more than 2,000 sites and killed around 250 Hezbollah fighters.

Israel also expanded its conflict in Lebanon on Saturday with its first strike in the northern city of Tripoli.

(With inputs from agencies)