In a significant escalation of regional tensions, two distinct rocket barrages originating from Lebanon activated sirens across a wide swath of northern Israeli communities, stretching from the Haifa region and into both the Lower and Upper Galilee. Concurrently, Israeli security officials confirmed on Saturday to the Arabic-language Sky News network that Hashem Safieddine, a prominent figure in Hezbollah's leadership as the head of its Executive Council and the intended successor to his cousin, Hezbollah's Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, had been eliminated in an Israeli strike in the Dahiya quarter of Beirut.
Lebanese security sources informed Reuters shortly before that since the series of attacks in the Beirut district, Safieddine has been "unreachable." Furthermore, three security sources noted that Israeli Defense Forces attacks on the outskirts of Beirut are impeding rescue teams from accessing the heavily targeted areas.
Saudi television channel Al-Hadath previously reported, citing unnamed sources, that Israel, while not officially commenting on the operation attributed to it, received confirmation of Safieddine's demise. Sources indicated that the magnitude of the strike in Beirut, specifically targeting Hashem Safieddine, left "no possibility of survival."
By midday, Al-Hadath further reported that Iranian Revolutionary Guard officers were also killed alongside him. It was asserted that "Hashem was killed in the strike with aides, Iranian commanders, and replacement field commanders of Hezbollah."
Israeli intelligence sources, in discussions with The New York Times, revealed that the attack aimed at an underground bunker hosting senior Hezbollah officials. Reports suggest that Safieddine and the head of the intelligence department of the Shia militant organization were present at the meeting, held at a considerable depth, as noted by Al-Arabiya network.
Various Saudi networks have raised questions regarding the whereabouts of Ismail Qaani, the commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, who according to Arab reports, has been "missing" for several days. It's noteworthy that following the strike that killed Nasrallah in Dahiya, rumors surfaced about Qaani's potential presence, though the Iranian Mehr news agency clarified, amid circulating rumors, that the Iranian Quds Force commander was not harmed in the attack on Hezbollah's central headquarters.
These extraordinary strikes, reportedly targeting Safieddine, occurred minutes after IDF announced the evacuation of several buildings in the Beirut district. "It was a ring of fire, Israel attacked 11 times consecutively," a source close to Hezbollah relayed to AFP.
Officially, neither the terrorist organization nor Israel has yet addressed the strike or the fate of the high-ranking Hezbollah official closely associated with the Ayatollah regime in Tehran, who is also the son-in-law of Qassem Soleimani.