Israel Confirms Killing of Terrorist Seen as Future Hezbollah Leader

Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine speaks during the funeral of Mohammed Nasser in Lebanon on July 4, 2024. Reuters/Aziz Taher

Israel has officially confirmed the killing of Hashem Safieddine, a top Hezbollah terrorist and a cousin of the group’s recently slain leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

In a statement posted on social media platform X on the evening of Oct. 22, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that Safieddine had been “eliminated” three weeks ago during a strike on Hezbollah’s main intelligence headquarters in the Beirut suburb of Dahieh, Lebanon.

Safieddine was seen as a potential successor to his cousin.

Nasrallah was also killed in an airstrike carried out by Israel in September.

Specially Designated Global Terrorists

The IDF said that Safieddine was a member of the Shura Council, the Iran-backed Shiite terrorist group Hezbollah’s most senior military–political forum, responsible for the decision making and policy making in the terrorist organization.

It also said that when Nasrallah was absent from Lebanon, Safieddine filled in as the secretary-general of Hezbollah and that throughout the years, Safieddine “directed terrorist attacks against the State of Israel and took part in Hezbollah’s central decision-making processes.”

The IDF said the terrorist Ali Hussein Hazima, commander of Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters, was also “eliminated.” He was responsible for directing numerous attacks on IDF soldiers.

In 2017, the U.S. Department of State classified Safieddine as a specially designated global terrorist. It said he was a key member of Hezbollah’s “executive council, which oversees Hizballah’s political, organizational, social, and educational activities.”

Hezbollah is responsible for such terrorist attacks as the suicide truck bombings of the U.S. Embassy and U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983, the bombing of the U.S. Embassy annex in Beirut in 1984, and the 1985 hijacking of TWA flight 847.

Haifa

Israel has a decades-long history of conflict with Hezbollah, although tensions between Israel and the Lebanese terrorist group have escalated.

One day after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, another Iran-backed terrorist group, and Israel’s retaliatory strikes in Gaza later that day, Hezbollah launched rockets, missiles, and drones into northern Israel in support of Hamas. Israel responded with artillery and rocket fire.

On Sept. 23, as part of its operation code-named Northern Arrows, the IDF attacked Hezbollah terrorist targets throughout Lebanon from the air.

According to the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, more than 2,000 targets were attacked in southern Lebanon, the Lebanon Valley, and northern Lebanon in the ongoing operation.

The targets included terrorist operatives, hundreds of ammunition depots; rocket launchers; long-range, medium-range, and heavy rockets; unmanned aerial vehicles; and cruise missiles.

In a Sept. 30 post on X, the IDF said it had begun “targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence against Hezbollah terrorist targets and infrastructure in southern Lebanon.”

Hezbollah has continued to retaliate. Early on the morning of Oct. 22, the terrorist group said it launched volleys of rockets at two key bases near Tel Aviv and a naval base west of Haifa. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Israeli military forces fire rockets from the Iron Dome defense system to intercept rockets launched from the Gaza Strip, near Sderot, Israel, on May 13, 2023. Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images

Israel’s multilayered air defenses have intercepted the vast majority of missiles and drones fired at it since the start of the Gaza war.

These defenses include the Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and the Arrow system. On Oct. 21, officials said the U.S. military’s advanced anti-missile system, the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, is now “in place” in Israel.

According to a recent U.S. congressional report, the THAAD system is a key element of U.S. ballistic missile defense that employs interceptor missiles, using “hit-to-kill” technology, to destroy threat missiles.

It is effective against short-range, medium-range, and limited intermediate-range ballistic missile threats—which would include all ballistic missiles launched at Israel from Iran—intercepting them during their final phase of flight.

U.S. President Joe Biden said the THAAD’s deployment, along with about 100 U.S. soldiers, will help defend Israel.

Pager Explosions

On Sept. 17 and 18, pager explosions in Lebanon killed a reported 27 people and injured about 4,450 people, including some children, according to the Lebanese government.

A day after the pagers blew up, a Hezbollah official said that walkie-talkies used by the group exploded across Beirut. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said at least 14 people were killed and more than 450 were injured in the second wave of explosions.

Several of the blasts were reported at funerals organized for those killed in a wave of exploding handheld electronic pagers the day prior. The funeral processions were being held for slain members of Hezbollah.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement. Lebanon’s government has blamed Israel.

Reuters contributed to this report.