• By Kamal Kumar
  • Tue, 08 Oct 2024 11:01 PM (IST)
  • Source:JND

Israel on Tuesday claimed that it eliminated Hashem Safieddine, the successor of Hezbollah's slain former chief Hassan Nasrallah in airstrikes which targeted his location in Beirut. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also urged the Lebanese people to get rid of the Hezbollah militants from amongst themselves.

Asserting that Hezbollah is weaker than ever, Netanyahu shared the progress made by the Israeli Defence Forces in its war against the Lebanon-based militant group.

“We have degraded Hezbollah’s capabilities; we took out thousands of terrorists, including Nasrallah himself, and Nasrallah’s replacement, and the replacement of his replacement. Today, Hezbollah is weaker than it has been for many many years,” Netanyahu said.

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Earlier, Yoav Gallant, the Defence Minister in the Israeli War Cabinet had informed that Hashem Safieddine was killed in airstrikes. His death came as a shock to already struggling Hezbollah, which is facing another battle in Southern Lebanon as Israel pounds its ground invasion.

“Hezbollah is an organisation without a head. Nasrallah was eliminated, his replacement was probably also eliminated,” Gallant told officers at the Israeli military’s northern command centre.

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Hashem Safieddine was to succeed Hezbollah's long-term leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an airstrike by Israel on the militant group's headquarters in Beirut.