Nasrallah’s successor ‘unreachable’ as Israel forces expand strikes in Lebanon
The potential successor to slain Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has been out of contact since Friday, a Lebanese security source said on Saturday, after an Israeli airstrike that is reported to have targeted him.
In its campaign against the Iran-backed Lebanese group, Israel carried out a huge strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs late on Thursday that Axios cited three Israeli officials as saying targeted Hashem Safieddine in an underground bunker.
The Lebanese security source and two other Lebanese security sources said the ongoing Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburb - known as Dahiyeh - since Friday have kept rescue workers from scouring the site of the attack.
Hezbollah has made no comment so far on Safieddine since the attack.
Israeli Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said on Friday the military was still assessing the Thursday night airstrikes, which he said targeted Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters.
The loss of Nasrallah’s rumoured successor would be yet another blow to Hezbollah and its patron Iran. Israeli strikes across the region in the past year, sharply accelerated in the past few weeks, have decimated Hezbollah’s leadership.
Israel expanded its bombardment in Lebanon on Saturday, hitting Beirut's southern suburbs with a dozen airstrikes and striking a Palestinian refugee camp deep in the north for the first time as it targeted both Hezbollah and Hamas fighters.
Tens of thousands of people in Lebanon, including Palestinian refugees, continued to flee the widening conflict in the region, while rallies were held around the world marking the approaching anniversary of the start of the war in Gaza.
Israel's attack on the Beddawi camp near Lebanon's northern city of Tripoli killed an official with Hamas' military wing along with his wife and two young daughters, the Palestinian militant group said. Hamas later said another military wing member was killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley.
Israel's military said it killed two senior officials with Hamas' military wing in Lebanon, where fighting has escalated in recent weeks. Israel has killed several Hamas officials there since the Israel-Hamas war began, in addition to most of the top leadership of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah.
Plumes of smoke dominated the skyline over Beirut's densely populated southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. Israel says it is targeting Hezbollah commanders and military equipment and aims to drive the militant group away from shared borders.
At least 1,400 Lebanese, including civilians, paramedics and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million driven from homes in less than two weeks.
The Iranian-backed Hezbollah, the strongest armed force in Lebanon, began firing rockets into Israel almost immediately after Hamas' October 7 attack, calling it a show of support for the Palestinians. Hezbollah and Israel's military have traded fire almost daily.
Israel's military on Saturday said about 90 projectiles were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory. Most were intercepted, but several fell in the northern Arab town of Deir al-Asad.
More bombs hit Beirut suburbs
- Israel expanded its bombardment in Lebanon on Saturday, hitting Beirut's southern suburbs with a dozen airstrikes and striking a Palestinian refugee camp deep in the north for the first time as it targeted Hezbollah and Hamas fighters.
- The loss of Nasrallah’s rumoured successor would be yet another blow to Hezbollah and its patron Iran.
