Hezbollah leader’s potential successor missing after Israeli airstrike: reports

Shafaq News/ A senior Hezbollah figure and possible successor to the group's slain leader Hassan Nasrallah has been missing since Friday following an Israeli airstrike, a Lebanese security source said on Saturday. The strike is believed to have targeted Hashem Safieddine, head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council.

Israel conducted a large-scale airstrike on Thursday night, hitting Beirut’s southern suburbs, an area known as Dahiyeh, in an operation reportedly aimed at Safieddine. According to Israeli officials cited by Axios, the strike targeted an underground bunker.

Lebanese officials told Al Jazeera that ongoing Israeli strikes in Dahiyeh have prevented rescue teams from accessing the site. Efforts to mediate access for the teams have so far been rejected by Israel, the sources added.

Safieddine, a cousin of Nasrallah and a key Hezbollah political and military figure, has not been seen or heard from since the attack. Hezbollah has not commented on his status. Israel's Channel 12 reported Friday that Israeli officials believe Safieddine was killed in the strike.

Israeli forces have expanded their operations in Lebanon in recent weeks, with airstrikes hitting Hezbollah strongholds and troops launching raids in the country's south. On Saturday, Israel conducted its first strike on Tripoli in northern Lebanon, killing a Hamas militant, his wife, and two children, according to Lebanese officials. Palestinian media said the strike also killed a leader of Hamas's military wing.

Israel has been engaged in a broader conflict with Hezbollah over the past year, which the group says are in support of Hamas in Gaza. Israeli strikes have eliminated much of Hezbollah’s senior leadership, including Nasrallah in a strike on September 27.

The ongoing Israeli offensive has displaced over a million people in Lebanon, with Israeli airstrikes continuing to hit densely populated areas.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden on Friday urged Israel to consider alternatives to retaliating against Iranian oil facilities, following an Iranian ballistic missile strike on Israel earlier in the week. The attack caused minimal damage, but Israel is reportedly weighing its response.

The top US military commander for the Middle East, General Michael Kurilla, is expected to arrive in Israel in the coming days to discuss the situation.