Israel: We killed the official who was expected to become the leader of Hezbollah

2024-10-23 08:11:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Israel: We killed the official who was expected to become the leader of

Israel said an airstrike on the outskirts of Beirut earlier this month killed an official of Hezbollah - the militant group and political party that controls most of southern Lebanon - who was widely expected to replace the group's embattled leader. Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed during an Israeli strike last month.

There was no immediate confirmation from Hezbollah about the fate of Hashem Safieddine, a powerful cleric who was expected to replace Nasrallah at the head of the group.

Hezbollah has been declared a terrorist organization by the United States. Meanwhile, the European Union has blacklisted the military wing, but not the political party of the group. The Hezbollah party has seats in the Lebanese Parliament.

Safieddine was killed in early October in an attack that also killed 25 other Hezbollah leaders, Israel said.

In recent months, Israel has killed many senior Hezbollah leaders during attacks in southern Lebanon, causing chaos in the group.

Last week, Israel also killed Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas - the Palestinian group designated a terrorist organization by the US and the EU - during an operation in Gaza.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was in Israel on Tuesday when he met with state leaders, said Sinwar's death should be "capitalized" as an opportunity to end the war in Gaza and secure the release of the hostages. which were taken during last year's October 7 attack by Hamas in southern Israel that sparked the war. The top US diplomat also urged Israel to do more to help increase humanitarian deliveries to the Palestinians.

The war in Gaza began after Hamas killed nearly 1,200 people and kidnapped nearly 250 others during the attack on October 7 last year. Since then, as a result of the Israeli offensive, more than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza.

Since the war in Gaza began, Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire on the border. But, at the beginning of October, the situation escalated and Israel announced the launch of a ground operation in the south of Lebanon against Hezbollah./REL