An Axios correspondent quoted three Israeli officials as saying that an Israeli strike targeted Hashem Safi al-Din, a leader in Hezbollah and one of the candidates to succeed Hassan Nasrallah, in the early hours of Friday morning.
Correspondent Barak Ravid said, in a post on the “X” website, “A strike launched by Israel a short while ago on Beirut targeted the senior leader of Hezbollah, Hashem Safi al-Din.”
On Thursday night, the Israeli army launched more than 25 raids on the southern suburbs of Beirut, described as the most violent since the raids began, according to a correspondent for the Al-Hurra channel.
The New York Times said that the intensified Israeli air strikes on southern Beirut around midnight on Thursday targeted a meeting of senior Hezbollah leaders, which included the presumed successor to Hassan Nasrallah, according to three Israeli officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.
Who is Hashem Safi Al-Din?
The killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in air strikes on a Beirut suburb has cast a spotlight on the man widely considered to be his heir, Hashem Safieddine.
Israel is tracking and assassinating leaders from the Hezbollah group in Lebanon and the Palestinian Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, amid a sharp escalation in confrontations that have been ongoing for nearly a year.
On Saturday, the Hezbollah group announced the killing of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in confirmation of the Israeli army’s announcement that it had killed him in an air strike on Beirut the previous day.
The killing of Nasrallah represents a painful blow to Hezbollah and Iran, given the key role it played among its arms in the region.
