‘Organisation without a head…’: Hezbollah ‘battered and broken’ after Nasrallah killing, says Israel Defence Minister

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant dubbed the Hezbollah an ‘organisation without a head’ on Tuesday amid an escalating conflict in the Middle East. The assertion came mere days after the killing of group head Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah — at a time when his purported successor Hashem Safieddine remains ‘missing’. The IDF also said that it had killed a senior Hezbollah commander during a strike on Beirut.

"Hezbollah is an organization without a head. Nasrallah was eliminated, his replacement was probably also eliminated. There's no one to make decisions, no one to act," he told officers in a short video clip distributed by the military.

The development came even as Hezbollah deputy secretary general Naim Qassem said the group was working to elect a new leader. Meanwhile Sheikh Naim Kassem — the acting leader of Hezbollah — issued a defiant televised statement insisting that their military capabilities remained intact.

The acting Hezbollah chief however said that efforts to replace Nasrallah was facing difficulties “because of the war”.

Kassem said that Hezbollah had replaced all of its senior commanders after weeks of heavy Israeli airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon — including targeted strikes — killed much of its top command in a matter of days.

"We are firing hundreds of rockets and dozens of drones. A large number of settlements and cities are under the fire of the resistance. Our capabilities are fine and our fighters are deployed along the frontlines. We have no vacant posts,” he said in a video message from an undisclosed location.

The Lebanese militant group has said it will stop the attacks if there is a cease-fire in Gaza, but months of diplomatic efforts on that front have repeatedly stalled. Israel has inflicted a punishing wave of blows against Hezbollah in recent weeks and says it will keep fighting until tens of thousands of displaced Israeli citizens can return to their homes in the north.

(With inputs from agencies)