A Hezbollah official said that contact with Hachem Safieddine, whose name was circulating as a potential successor to the movement’s leader Hassan Nasrallah, had been “lost” since the Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah’s stronghold near Beirut on Friday.
The source told AFP that “contact with Sayyed Safieddine has been lost since the violent raids against the suburb” on the night of Thursday to Friday. “We do not know if he was present at the location targeted by the raids, nor who was present with him,” he added, on condition of anonymity. The Israeli army has not confirmed this information.
The seat “aimed underground”
A second source close to the party confirmed this information: “the party is trying to reach the headquarters which was targeted underground, but Israel is systematically carrying out new raids to try to hinder any efforts by the rescuers.”
Video“Bunker buster”, the penetrating bomb that eliminated Hassan Nasrallah
According to this source, Safieddine “was accompanied by Hajj Mortada, the head of Hezbollah intelligence”.
Early Friday, a source close to Hezbollah said Israel carried out 11 consecutive strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut, the group’s stronghold, overnight Thursday-Friday, the most violent since Israel intensified its bombing campaign last week.
