Hezbollah confirmed on Wednesday that Israel killed Hashem Safieddine, the likely successor to its former leader Hassan Nasrallah, in an airstrike. The group didn’t specify the exact time or location of the strike but said it occurred in Beirut’s southern suburbs three weeks ago.
“We mourn the head of the Executive Council, Sayyed Hashem Safieddine,” Hezbollah said, blaming a “criminal Zionist raid” for his death, along with other fighters. Safieddine, a cleric and relative of Nasrallah, had been seen as the next leader after Nasrallah’s assassination on September 27 in an Israeli airstrike.