Israel confirms killing of Hezbollah successor Hashem Safieddine in airstrikes in Beirut

Israel has confirmed the killing of Hashem Safieddine, a senior Hezbollah leader and presumed successor to Hassan Nasrallah, in an airstrike in southern Beirut in early October.

Safieddine was chairman of Hezbollah's Executive Council and an important political figure.

The Iran-backed group confirmed Safieddin's death, a day after the Israeli military announced three weeks earlier that airstrikes in the suburb of Dahiyeh had killed Safieddine and Ali Hussein Hazima, the head of Hezbollah's intelligence division.

Israel said 25 other leaders were also killed in the airstrike.

Hezbollah said it mourned Safieddine, who was a “great leader and great martyr” and lived an “honorable life.”

The group said Safieddin had joined “his brother, our noblest and most valuable martyr,” Nasrallah.

This blow to Hezbollah's leadership comes amid escalating fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, as well as ongoing airstrikes and clashes along the Israel-Lebanon border.

Israel reportedly killed Safieddine on October 3 by dropping 73 tons of bombs on Dahiyeh. This attack was similar to the bunker bombings that killed Nasrallah a week earlier.

Hezbollah said despite the loss, its members “pledge to our great martyr and his martyr brothers to continue the path of resistance and jihad until they achieve their goals of freedom and victory.”

Following Safieddine's death, Naim Qassem, Hezbollah's deputy secretary general, is now the only remaining member of the group's publicly accessible senior leadership team. Qassem has represented Hezbollah since Nasrallah's assassination, but lacks the widespread popularity that the former secretary general enjoyed among his supporters.

“We have achieved it [Hassan] Nasrallah, his successor and most of Hezbollah's leadership. “We will know how to reach anyone who threatens the security of Israeli citizens,” Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), said in a military statement The Times of Israel.

This was announced by a source close to Hezbollah AFP At the beginning of October it was said that Safieddine was the “most likely” candidate for party leadership.

After confirming Safieddine's death, the Israeli military also announced that it had killed three Hezbollah commanders and around 70 fighters in southern Lebanon in the past 48 hours.

The IDF said it was conducting targeted raids against Hezbollah's infrastructure.

At least 1.2 million Lebanese have been displaced so far and over 2,500 deaths have been recorded, including 63 in the last day alone.

The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel began after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel on October 8, 2023, in “solidarity” with Hamas's attack on Israel the previous day. Hostilities have increased sharply since Israel launched Operation Northern Arrows against Hezbollah in Lebanon on September 23.

Last week, Israel attacked and killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza.

On Monday evening, Israeli attacks in the greater Beirut area left 18 people dead, including four children, and 60 injured in an attack in Dahiyeh.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to use the recent killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to secure the release of hostages from the October 7 Hamas attack and to consider ending the war in Gaza.

On his 11th visit to the Middle East since the conflict escalated, Mr. Blinken also wanted to address rising tensions in Lebanon.

Mr. Netanyahu noted that Sinwar's death could facilitate the return of the hostages and help achieve the war's goals. But there has been no talk of a ceasefire, despite the severe devastation in the Gaza Strip, where military capabilities have weakened and most of the 2.3 million residents have been displaced.

Additional reporting by agencies.