Hezbollah has confirmed the loss of life of Hashem Safieddine, a cousin of former chief Hassan Nasrallah and a cleric poised to develop into the group’s subsequent chief, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike practically three weeks in the past.
The Israeli navy reported late Tuesday that Safieddine was focused in an assault within the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Hezbollah issued a press release Wednesday mourning Safieddine as a “nice chief and an amazing martyr” who lived an “honorable life.” Nonetheless, the Iran-backed militant group didn’t title the chief.
He had served as head of the group’s government council and was a cousin of the late secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on September 27.
“Hassan Nasrallah will now not have the ability to terrorize the world,” Israel stated after Nasrallah’s loss of life.
Following Nasrallah’s loss of life, Safieddine assumed a outstanding management function inside Hezbollah and was anticipated to be formally elected as the subsequent secretary common, though no official announcement had been made earlier than his loss of life.
On October 4, Israel carried out a sequence of airstrikes close to Beirut airport, throughout which Hezbollah officers reported shedding contact with Safieddine. American media sources cited Israeli officers as stating that he was the meant goal of the bombing.
The Israel Protection Forces (IDF) confirmed on Tuesday that Safieddine was killed together with Ali Hussein Hazima, whom they described because the commander of Hezbollah’s Intelligence Headquarters.
The IDF accused Safieddine of orchestrating “terrorist assaults in opposition to the State of Israel” for years and of taking part in Hezbollah’s “core decision-making processes.”
In 2017, america and Saudi Arabia labeled Safieddine a “international terrorist.”
Having undertaken spiritual research in Iran, Safieddine had household ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard; his son was married to a daughter of Basic Qasem Soleimani, the influential Iranian commander killed in a US airstrike in Iraq in 2020. Safieddine was believed to be round 60 years outdated on the time of his loss of life.
In a latest speech in Beirut, Safieddine mentioned Hezbollah’s perspective on management succession, stating: “In our resistance, when one chief is martyred, one other takes the flag and continues with a brand new, assured and powerful dedication.”
The Israeli navy intensified its offensive in opposition to Hezbollah after virtually a 12 months of cross-border hostilities, which intensified as a result of ongoing struggle in Gaza.
Israeli officers said that the objective was to make sure the protected return of residents displaced by Hezbollah’s rocket, missile and drone assaults.
The battle has had a devastating influence, with at the very least 2,500 Lebanese victims and practically 12,000 injured, Lebanon’s Ministry of Well being reported over the previous 12 months.
In response, Hezbollah launched hundreds of rockets and drones into Israel, inflicting at the very least 59 deaths in northern Israel and the occupied Golan Heights, in accordance with Reuters.
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