Tuesday, October 23, 2024 - The Israeli military has confirmed the killing of Hashem Safieddine, who was considered the most likely candidate to replace Hassan Nasrallah as the Shia Muslim militant Islamist organisation’s top leader after Nasrallah’s assassination last month.
In a statement, the Israeli military said strikes in the
suburb of Dahiyeh had killed Hashem Safieddine and Ali Hussein Hazima, the head
of the militant group’s intelligence branch, three weeks ago.
The airstrike had targeted a meeting of senior Hezbollah
leaders. It was one of the heaviest bombardments to hit the area known as the
Dahiya since an Israeli assault killed Hezbollah’s longtime leader, Hassan
Nasrallah, on Sept. 27.
Safieddine was the head of Hezbollah’s highest political
decision-making body, the executive council, and was reportedly picked as the
successor to Nasrallah some years ago. He was also a cousin of the former
secretary general.
His fate was unknown after Israeli strikes on Dahiyeh on 3
October, which Israel said were targeting an underground bunker where the
senior leader was living.
Hezbollah had reportedly not been able to re-establish
contact with Safieddine since the strike and rescue workers were prevented from
reaching the site of the bombing.
With the killing of Safieddine, only Naim Qassem, the deputy
secretary general of Hezbollah, remains from Hezbollah’s public-facing
senior leadership.
Qassem has been the face of the group since the
assassination of Nasrallah.
Israeli strikes in recent months have killed much of Hezbollah’s
top leadership, leaving the group in disarray.
The Beirut suburb where Safieddine was killed was pummeled
by a series of fresh airstrikes on Tuesday. The Israeli military leveled a
building in the Dahiyeh suburb of Beirut that it said housed Hezbollah
facilities.
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