Israel Targets Hezbollah Intel HQ In Beirut, Nasrallah Successor Safieddine Reportedly Hit In Dahieh Airstrikes

Smoke and flames rise over Beirut's southern suburbs after a strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon, October 3. (Reuters) Hashem Safieddine (Top Right)

Israeli strikes target Hezbollah leaders in Beirut, aiming at Hashem Safieddine. Evacuation warnings issued as tensions rise in the region

Israel’s military said Thursday it had hit Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters in the Lebanese capital Beirut, as reports emerged that Hashem Safieddine, the presumed successor to slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, was targeted during airstrikes in the Dahieh suburb.

This comes as Israeli troops had started “ground raids” into parts of southern Lebanon, a stronghold of Hezbollah, after days of bombing of areas across the country where the group holds sway. In Beirut, the Israeli strikes were aimed at a meeting of senior Hezbollah leaders, including Safieddine, who oversees the military operations as head of the Iran-backed group’s executive council, The New York Times reported.

Nasrallah successor Targeted

Safieddine is the man widely regarded as the heir of slain Hezbollah leader Nasrallah who was killed in an Israeli airstrike that also targetted dozens of other leaders of the Iran-backed group. He was designated a terrorist by the US State Department in 2017 and is a cousin of Nasrallah.

Late Thursday, Israel had conducted 11 consecutive strikes on the group’s south Beirut stronghold, in one of the most violent raids since the country intensified its bombardment campaign last week. Lebanon’s official News Agency (NNA) said “More than 10 consecutive strikes have been recorded so far, in one of the strongest raids on the southern suburbs of Beirut since the start of the Israeli war on Lebanon”. The strikes echoed to mountain regions outside Beirut, the NNA said.

‘Urgent warning’

Earlier Thursday, Israeli army Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee had issued an “urgent warning” for residents of the south Beirut area of Burj al-Barajneh to evacuate along with maps of the area. He later issued an evacuation order for the Hadath neighbourhood of Beirut’s south.

“You are located near facilities and interests belonging to Hezbollah, and the IDF (Israeli army) will work against them in the near future,” he had said in a statement on X. This week, Israel announced that its troops had started “ground raids” into parts of southern Lebanon, after days of heavy bombardment of Hezbollah strongholds around the country.

After nearly a year of low-intensity cross-border fighting, Israel has expanded its military campaign from Gaza to Lebanon, where heavy bombing has killed more than 1,000 people and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes. Israel last week killed Hezbollah leader Nasrallah in south Beirut, a densely populated area before residents fled Israel’s intensifying bombardment.

(With agency inputs)