Israel struck a southern suburb of Beirut with force and bombed a bunker where, according to media reports, the likely next leader of the extremist organization was.
Israel has again hit Lebanon hard in the past 24 hours. According to media reports, Israeli fighter jets have carried out about 20 strikes, 11 of which hit the southern part of Beirut.
Warplanes have bombed an underground bunker where a meeting of high-ranking Hezbollah officials was taking place, reports New York Times and Axios. The Israeli media also reports on the matter.
The Israeli army has not confirmed the information that the leader of the extremist organization was killed in the attacks Hashem Safieddine.
Israel’s military says it has killed a top Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah at the end of September.
This is what we know about Safieddine
Safieddine is one of the two leaders of the movement who are believed to be Nasrallah’s successor. Another possible leader is Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem.
Safieddine is Nasrallah’s cousin and joined the extremist organization together in its early days.
Safieddine and Nasrallah quickly rose from rank-and-file members of the organization to higher positions.
Safieddine has held leadership positions in political, administrative, social, spiritual and cultural affairs, and has also led extremist military activities from time to time.
Close relations with Iran
Born in 1964 in southern Lebanon, Safieddine studied in Iran like Nasrallah. Safieddine formed strong ties to Tehran while studying theology in the Iranian city of Qom before returning to Lebanon.
He was also the commander of the elite Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Qassim Suleimani close friend. The US killed Suleiman in an airstrike in Baghdad in 2020.
Safieddine’s son is married to Suleiman’s daughter. According to the New York Times, analysts saw the marriage as symbolic of Iran’s entrenchment in Hezbollah.
Hezbollah, an extremist Shiite organization operating in Lebanon, has been waging an armed struggle against Israel since at least the 1980s.
Hezbollah cooperates with several Islamist groups in the Middle East, such as the Palestinian Hamas. These groups are united by the view of Israel as the enemy.
Iran supports Hezbollah because it does not accept Israel as a state and holds grudges from previous wars.
We follow the development of the situation in Lebanon in this updated article.
AFP