Israel confirmed on Tuesday that it had killed Hashem Safieddine, who was considered the successor to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, during a strike three weeks ago in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
This marks the first official acknowledgment of Safieddine’s death after earlier reports had suggested he was probably eliminated. Safieddine, a relative of Nasrallah, held significant roles in Hezbollah, overseeing military operations through its Jihad Council and managing its financial and administrative affairs via the executive council.
Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi stated, “We have reached Nasrallah, his replacement, and most of Hezbollah’s senior leadership. We will reach anyone who threatens the security of the civilians of the State of Israel.”
Hezbollah, a powerful Iran-backed Lebanese militant group, has yet to respond to Israel’s statement. The organization has been engaged in long-standing border clashes with Israel and supporting Palestinian militants in Gaza. In recent weeks, Israeli airstrikes have resulted in the deaths of several senior Hezbollah commanders.
The ongoing Israeli offensives in Lebanon and Gaza, including the elimination of key Hezbollah and Hamas figures, continue amid speculation that Israel is positioning itself strategically ahead of the U.S. presidential election on November 5.
BLINKEN ON MIDEAST TOUR
Israel’s confirmation of Safieddine’s death came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken pressed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday to capitalise on the killing of Hamas’ leader Yahya Sinwar by securing the release of the Oct. 7 attack hostages and ending the war in Gaza.
After repeated abortive attempts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Blinken was making his 11th trip to the Middle East since the Gaza war erupted – and the last before a presidential election that could upend U.S. policy.
Blinken was also seeking ways to defuse the conflict in Lebanon, where overnight at least 18 people were killed, including four children, and 60 injured by an Israeli airstrike near Beirut’s main state hospital.
Blinken faced an uphill struggle on both fronts.
He spelled out U.S. hopes that the death of Hamas leader Sinwar – blamed for triggering a year of devastating warfare by planning the deadly militant assault from Gaza on Israeli territory on Oct. 7 last year – will provide a new opportunity for peace.
In a statement issued by his office, Netanyahu said Sinwar’s elimination “may have a positive effect on the return of the hostages, the achievement of all the goals of the war, and the day after the war”.
But there was no mention of a possible ceasefire after a year of war in which Hamas’ military capabilities have been greatly degraded and Gaza largely reduced to rubble, with most of its 2.3 million Palestinians displaced.
For its part, Hamas has refused to free scores of hostages in Gaza seized in its Oct. 7, 2023, raid on Israel without an Israeli pledge to end the war and pull out of the territory.
As Blinken huddled with Israeli leaders, Hezbollah ruled out negotiations while fighting continues with Israel, and it claimed responsibility for a drone attack targeting Netanyahu’s holiday home on Saturday.
Hezbollah announced dozens of attacks against Israeli targets on Tuesday, including what it said were Israeli military sites near Haifa and Tel Aviv, suggesting its capabilities have survived Israel’s biggest onslaught in decades of hostilities.
Israeli strikes also continued across Lebanon on Tuesday, including one of which caused the precipitous collapse of an multi-storey building near central Beirut, sending more panicked residents fleeing.
Israel’s offensive has driven at least 1.2 million Lebanese from their homes and killed 2,530 people, including at least 63 over the past 24 hours, the Lebanese government said on Tuesday.
