Israel claims to have killed Hashem Safieddine, Nasrallah's likely successor – Kashmir monitor

BEIRUT – Israel said Tuesday that one of its airstrikes outside Beirut earlier this month killed the Hezbollah leader widely believed to replace Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated by Israelis last month.

There was no immediate confirmation from Hezbollah.
According to the Israeli military
Safieddine was killed in early October in an attack that also killed 25 other Hezbollah leaders.
Last week, Israel killed top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar during a battle in the Gaza Strip.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday during a trip to Israel that leaders there should “use” Sinwar's death as an opportunity to end the war in Gaza and secure the release of hostages held as part of the deadly Hamas operation. were kidnapped during the attack that started the war.

The Beirut suburb where Safieddine was killed was hit by a series of new airstrikes on Tuesday, including one that leveled a building that Israel said housed Hezbollah facilities. The collapse sent smoke and debris flying into the air several hundred meters from where a Hezbollah spokesman had just briefed reporters about a weekend drone strike that damaged Netanyahu's home.

Tuesday's airstrikes came 40 minutes after Israel issued an evacuation warning for two buildings in the area said to be used by Hezbollah. Hezbollah's news conference nearby was cut short and an Associated Press photographer snapped a picture of a rocket heading toward the building just before it was destroyed. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Hezbollah's chief spokesman, Mohammed Afif, said the group was behind Saturday's drone attack on Netanyahu's home in the coastal city of Caesarea. Israel said neither the prime minister nor his wife were at home at the time of the attack.

Hospitals in Lebanon fear being attacked by Israel

An Israeli airstrike destroyed several buildings across from the country's largest public hospital in Beirut late Monday evening, killing 18 people and wounding at least 60 others.

Staff at another Beirut hospital feared it would be targeted after Israel claimed Hezbollah had hidden hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold in its basement, without providing evidence.

The director of the Sahel General Hospital denied the allegations and invited journalists to tour the hospital and its two underground floors on Tuesday. AP reporters saw no signs of militants or anything unusual.

The few remaining patients had been evacuated following the Israeli military's announcement the evening before.

“We have been living in fear and terror for 24 hours,” said hospital director Mazen Alame. “There’s nothing under the hospital.”

Many in Lebanon fear that Israel could target its hospitals in the same way it has raided medical facilities across the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military has accused Hamas and other militants of using hospitals for military purposes, a charge denied by medical staff.

During his meeting with
Israel has carried out waves of heavy airstrikes in southern Beirut and in the south and east of the country, areas where Hezbollah has a large presence. Hezbollah has fired thousands of rockets, missiles and drones into Israel over the past year, including some that reached the country's populous center.
Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians in Gaza and injured tens of thousands. . (AP)

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