IDF strikes Beirut's Dahieh targeting a Hezbollah bunker
The Air Force conducted targeted strikes on Hezbollah's stronghold in the Dahieh sector of Beirut overnight, targeting Hashem Safieddine, rumored successor to its assassinated leader Hassan Nasrallah, in an underground bunker, according to reports.
After warning residents in the area to evacuate, The IDF bombed an underground bunker using bunker-busting munitions, to eliminate him. Arab media reports claimed Safieddine. His fate remains unknown.
2 View gallery
IDF conducts targeted strikes on Beirut's Dahieh
(Photo: Amr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters)
Designated as Nasrallah’s successor since the 1990s, Safieddine was brought back to Beirut from his studies in Iran to head Hezbollah’s Executive Council just two years after Nasrallah assumed leadership. He is also related by marriage to Qassem Soleimani, the former commander of Iran’s Quds Force, who was killed by a U.S. strike in 2020.
Safieddine, on the U.S. terror list since 2017, has managed Hezbollah’s education system, finances and foreign investments, leaving military and strategic matters to Nasrallah. He has maintained close ties with Tehran and supports the Iranian regime, with his brother Abdullah serving as Hezbollah’s envoy to Iran.
Saudi Arabia's Al Hadath channel reported on Monday that Hezbollah's Shura Council has chosen Hashem Safieddine as the organization's new secretary-general.
Israel also conducted strikes on the Lebanon-Syria border after informing the Lebanese government that weapons were crossing into Lebanon for Hezbollah and must be stopped. According to the Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen network, traffic into and out of the country, stopped after the Israeli attack.
Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: