The Israeli army has officially announced the liquidation of the head of the executive council of the Shiite organization Hezbollah, Hashem Safi ad-Din.
As Day.Az reports with reference to TASS, he was considered the main contender for the post of secretary general of the movement after the liquidation of its former long-term leader Hassan Nasrullah.
“It can now be confirmed that, as a result of a strike carried out about three weeks ago, the head of the executive council of the terrorist organization Hezbollah, Hashem Safi al-Din, and the head of the intelligence headquarters of Hezbollah, Hussein Ali al-Zeima, were killed in [предместье] Dahiya is in Beirut with other Hezbollah commanders,” the Israeli army press service said in a statement.
The army of the Jewish state noted that in total, as a result of this strike, 25 members of the armed formations of the Shiite organization were eliminated. “The Israel Defense Forces will continue to act against senior Hezbollah commanders and anyone who poses a threat to Israeli citizens,” the press service said.
On October 3, the Israeli army announced that it had carried out a targeted airstrike against Hezbollah intelligence headquarters in Beirut. As the Ynet portal reported at the time, during the attack, Israeli fighters dropped 73 tons of ammunition on the targets. It was alleged that the likely main target of the strike was Hashem Safi ad-Din, who was seen as Nasrullah’s likely successor and was his cousin. After that strike, Safi ad-Din stopped communicating and was considered dead, but there was still no official confirmation of his death.
On September 23, Israel launched Operation Arrows of the North against Hezbollah forces in Lebanon, during which it carries out massive strikes on the movement’s military targets. The stated goal is to create safe conditions in the northern border areas of the Jewish state so that tens of thousands of residents can return there. As a result of one of the Israeli strikes on September 27, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrullah was killed in Beirut. On the night of October 1, the Israeli army announced a ground operation in the border areas of southern Lebanon.