The IDF conducted a bombing mission in Lebanon early Friday to eliminate Hashem Safieddine, who is believed to be the next leader of Hezbollah, three Israeli officials told The New York Times.
The sources disclosed to the newspaper that the operation targeted an underground bunker in the Dahieh suburb of Beirut where Safieddine and senior commanders of the Tehran-backed militia were holding a meeting.
Safieddine, a cousin of the recently eliminated Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, serves as the head of the organization’s political affairs and sits on the committee responsible for overseeing the group’s military activities.
The incident comes as Israeli ground forces launched an incursion across their northern border on Tuesday, a move that officials in Jerusalem assert is essential to prevent the ongoing attacks Hezbollah has carried out against the Jewish state since the war in Gaza began nearly a year ago.
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