Israel confirms death of Nasrallah's successor Hashem Safieddine

The Israel Defense Forces have confirmed the death of Hashem Safieddine, a senior Hezbollah official, after finding his body in the bunker where he was eliminated three weeks ago. Safieddine, one of Hassan Nasrallah's main successors, was killed along with 25 other people at the militia's intelligence headquarters in the Beirut neighbourhood of Dahieh, one of the terrorist group's strongholds.  

According to the Saudi Al Arabiya network, among the dead were also several members of Hezbollah's intelligence command, including Bilal Saib Aish, who was in charge of gathering aerial intelligence at Hezbollah's headquarters in Syria, and Ali Hussein Hazima, the commander of the militia's intelligence headquarters.  

Safieddine, Nasrallah's cousin, ‘exerted significant influence on decision-making within the terrorist organisation,’ an Israeli army statement said. ‘Over the years, he directed terrorist attacks against the state of Israel and participated in Hezbollah's central decision-making processes,’ it adds. 

While Nasrallah focused on the armed group's military and strategic affairs, Safieddine - who has been on the US terror list since 2017 - was in charge of Hezbollah's education system, finances and foreign investments. 

This is why Safieddine maintained close relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, the main economic backer of the Lebanese militia. Moreover, as Ynet recalls, his brother Abdullah is Hezbollah's envoy in Iran. 

Safieddine's death represents a new defeat for the terrorist group, which in recent weeks has lost much of its military and political leadership. Despite this, Hezbollah continues to launch recurrent attacks against Israeli territory, including the cities of Haifa and Tel Aviv.   

Also, this past weekend, a drone launched by the militia from Lebanon managed to hit Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in the coastal city of Caesarea. 

In addition to Hezbollah, Israel has blamed the Iranian regime for the attack, claiming that Iranian embassy officials in Beirut ‘are involved in the assassination attempt on Netanyahu’. The Prime Minister, for his part, said in a video recorded in Jerusalem that the Iranian agents who tried to assassinate him and his wife ‘made a grave mistake’.  

The Middle East is still awaiting Israel's retaliation to Iran's attack on 1 October, when the Tehran regime launched nearly 200 ballistic missiles at the Hebrew state. This retaliation is expected to be ‘significant’ and target military sites or oil production and export infrastructure.  

In this regard, according to the US-based Arab media outlet Alhurra, Persian Gulf Arab nations have reportedly urged Israel to deliver a ‘decisive blow’ to Iran. ‘Gulf countries have sent messages to Israel stressing the need for its response to Iran to be strict and clear,’ an Israeli source told the media outlet. 

‘Israel is receiving contacts and requests from the Gulf countries to inform it in advance of the expected response so that it can take precautions in the event of a counterattack,’ it added.  

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi recently sought support from regional countries, urging them to remain neutral in the event of a confrontation. In this regard, Tehran also assured its Arab and regional neighbours that they would face retaliation if Israel or the US used their territory or airspace during an attack on the regime.