“We can now confirm that the head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council, Hashem Safieddine, and the head of Hezbollah’s Intelligence Directorate, Ali Hussein Hazima, They were killed along with other Hezbollah commanders in a bombing about three weeks ago“, the Israeli army said in a statement. Hezbollah did not immediately react to this announcement.
Nasrallah He was killed in an Israeli bombing raid also in the southern suburbs of Beirut on September 27. “We destroyed Nasrallah, his replacement and most of Hezbollah’s leadership”declared in a statement the General Herzi Halevi, Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army. “We will hit anyone who threatens the security of the citizens of the State of Israel”, the statement added.
Who was Hashem Safieddine in the structure of Hezbollah
With a gray beard, glasses and the black turban of the Sayed – the descendants of the prophet Muhammad -, Hashem Safieddine, about sixty years oldshared a striking physical resemblance to his cousin Hasan Nasrallah.
Safieddine He was one of the most important members of the Shura Council, the highest body of the party. A source close to Hezbollah stated that he was “the most likely candidate” to succeed the deceased head of the pro-Iran Shiite movement.
An official of Hezbollah He told AFP on October 5 that contact had been “lost” with Safieddine since the Israeli bombings near Beirut from the previous day.
On October 8, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu stated in a video addressed to lebanese that Israel had “eliminated thousands of terrorists, including Nasrallah, the substitute of Nasrallah and the substitute of his substitute.”
After almost a year of war against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Loop, Israel turned its sights to Lebanon in late September, vowing to secure its northern border in the face of cross-border gunfire. Hezbollah, ally of Hamas.
Israel intensified its aerial bombardments against bastions of Hezbollah throughout the country and launched a ground offensive on September 30. At least 1,552 people have died in Lebanon since September 23according to an AFP count based on figures from the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
Source: Ambito
