Middle East War: After Death of Nasrallah's Presumptive Successor, Hezbollah Destroyed ?

Israel announced Tuesday that it had eliminated Hassan Nasrallah's expected successor as head of Hezbollah, in a strike on Beirut in early October.

The Essentials

• The Israeli army announced Tuesday evening that it had eliminated Hashem Safieddine three weeks ago, who was strongly tipped to succeed Hassan Nasrallah as head of Hezbollah, killed on September 27th. "&Elimination of the so-called Hashem Safi al-Din, head of the Executive Council of the terrorist Hezbollah", declared on X the Arabic-speaking spokesman of Tsahal on X.
• “We have had Nasrallah, his replacement and most of Hezbollah's senior leaders,” IDF Chief of Staff Gen. Herzi Halevi said in a statement. “We will reach out to anyone who threatens the security of the citizens of the State of Israel,” the statement added.
• Hezbollah had claimed that contact with Safieddine had been “lost” after the Israeli strikes of October 4. According to a source close to Hezbollah relayed in the columns of France Info, he was “the most likely candidate” to succeed Nasrallah. After several assassinations, his death puts the organization of the Islamist group in even greater peril.
• The bombings continue in Lebanon and particularly in the southern suburbs of Beirut. On Tuesday evening, seven Israeli strikes hit the country according to the Lebanese National News Agency. In this area, a stronghold of Hezbollah, Israeli calls to evacuate the area are increasing.

Latest updates

10/23/24 – 10:38 PM – New lively exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah on Wednesday evening

The evening was marked by new Israeli strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut. According to the Lebanese National News Agency, after calling on the population to evacuate several sectors around 8:30 p.m., the Israeli army carried out 10 air strikes. “Israeli raids on an area around Laylaki destroyed six buildings,” the agency also claims. 

For its part, Hezbollah declared that it had struck a military industrial site located near Tel Aviv, in Israel, assuring that it had “hit the target with precision”. The Israeli army reported for its part that it had counted "around 135 projectiles launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon at the Jewish state.

23/1 0/24 – 20:33 – "I’have been here extremely d&eac;çu" by Emmanuel Macron, says Benyamin Netanyahu

The Israeli Prime Minister was a guest on CNews this Wednesday evening. On this occasion, Benjamin Netanyahu did not fail to return to the recent tensions between him and the President of the French Republic. “I spoke with Emmanuel Macron and I was “extremely disappointed,” he said, believing that the head of state “takes positions that are against our common interests, the interests of societies free".

10/23/24 – 6:06 p.m. – Hezbollah confirms the death of Nasrallah's expected successor

Hezbollah has confirmed the death of Hashem Safieddine, the expected successor to Hassan Nasrallah at the head of the Lebanese Islamist movement. The Israeli army announced last night that it had “eliminated” this senior figure in the Shiite group in early October in a strike near Beirut. In its statement, Hezbollah wrote that the head of the pro-Iranian movement's Executive Council, Hashem Safieddine, was killed along with other party members “in a Zionist raid”.

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10/23/24 – 4:06 PM – BRICS urge Israel to “immediately cease” attacks on UNIFIL

The BRICS member states called on the Israeli authorities on Wednesday, October 23, to “immediately cease” the raids against the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), as well as to “preserve the territorial integrity” of the country, which has been bombarded for several weeks by the IDF. “We strongly condemn the attacks on UN personnel and the threats to their security, and call on Israel to immediately cease these actions,” member countries demand.

10/23/24 – 3:20 p.m. – Hezbollah command centers bombed in Sour

The Israeli army claims to have bombed on Tuesday “command and control posts of various military units” of Hezbollah in Sour (Tyre), in southern Lebanon. A region known to be an important base of the pro-Iranian movement, and therefore a favorite target for Tsahal. The city had already been the target of an Israeli drone attack after a call from the army to éevacuate the targeted neighborhoods.

10/23/24 – 2:53 PM – Israeli raids in the locality of Kfar

The Israeli army carried out raids on the locality of Kfar Remmane (Nabatiyé caza), near the al Najda hospital of the Lebanese Popular Relief, and on the village of Henniyé (Tyr caza), according to our correspondent, this Wednesday. According to L'Orient-Le Jour, a strike also destroyed the religious celebration hall of Mayfadoun (Nabatiyá). Two deaths are to be deplored according to a correspondent of the media.

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42,718. This is the number of deaths in the Gaza Strip since the Hamas terrorist offensive on October 7, 2023 in Israel. A figure communicated by the Ministry of Health of the Hamas government, on Monday, October 14, 2024, which reveals the intensity of the fighting that has now lasted for more than a year. Over the months, tensions have intensified, and as of October 27, 2023, Israel extended its ground operation to Gaza. The goal for Netanyahu and the IDF is clear: to “annihilate” Hamas. A week-long ceasefire was nevertheless in place in November 2023. After a major leap forward, on April 13, 2024, Iran launched its first massive attack on Israel. Allied to Hamas, Iran then fired nearly 350 explosive drones and missiles at the Hebrew state. An attack in response to missiles fired at the embassy in Damascus in Syria on April 1, in which 11 people lost their lives, including seven Islamic Revolutionary Guards.

On Tuesday, September 17, 2024, a new type of attack broke into the war. Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies exploded. Twelve dead and nearly 3,000 injured were reported in Lebanon. Since its coordinated explosions, Israel has continued to strike Lebanon with air and ground raids. More than 1,000 people were killed in IDF strikes and thousands of Lebanese were forced to be displaced. On October 1, 2024, Iran responded by sending nearly 200 ballistic missiles directly to Israel. Since then, the two countries have been engaged in a merciless war, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatening on October 8, 2024 that Lebanon would experience “destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza” if the country's population did not “free itself” from Hezbollah. Remarks described as “provocation” by the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot.

On Monday, October 14, 2024, the Lebanese Hezbollah threatened Israel with new attacks in a press release. As a reminder, Hezbollah had struck Haifa two days earlier, killing four Israeli soldiers and injuring no fewer than 60. At the beginning of the week, the terrorist organization indicated that “the resistance (…) promises the enemy”. The raid carried out “south of Haifa is only a foretaste of what awaits it if it decides to continue its aggression against our people”, it threatens. According to Palestinian doctors quoted by the Associated Press, the courtyard of a hospital in the Gaza Strip was then shelled by the Israeli army, killing at least four people and setting fire to a camp for displaced people.