Israeli military says it has killed Hezbollah successor Hashem Safieddine
Beirut, Lebanon - Hashem Safieddine, the most prominent successor to the Hezbollah militia leader in Lebanon, Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed by Israel, has also been killed, the Israeli military said on Tuesday.
The military, in a post on Telegram, said "it can now confirm" that Safieddine, who was head of the Iran-backed Hezbollah council, was killed along with Ali Hussein Hazima, commander of Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters and other Hezbollah commanders.
"The terrorists were eliminated in a strike carried out approximately three weeks ago in the area of Dahieh, a key Hezbollah terrorist stronghold in Beirut," the army wrote.
It said its "precise strike" was aimed at the intelligence headquarters, which were underground beneath the civilian population.
Some 25 Hezbollah fighters were there at the time, including Bilal Saib Aish, who was in charge of the Iran-backed Hezbollah's aerial intelligence unit at its intelligence headquarters in Syria.
Safieddine was a member of the Shura Council, the most senior decision and policy-making forum in Hezbollah, the Israeli army said.
He was Nasrallah's cousin and filled in for Nasrallah when the former Hezbollah leader was absent and was responsible for directing "terrorist activities against the State of Israel," the army said.
Cover photo: ANWAR AMRO / AFP