Israeli airstrike in Lebanon reportedly targets Hezbollah’s no. 2, Safieddine

An Israeli airstrike on Beirut late Thursday targeted senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, according to a report from Axios reporter Barak Ravid. Citing an Israeli source, the report claims that Safieddine, regarded as the likely successor to slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, was the intended target of the strike. However, no official source has confirmed the information.

Reuters reported that it could not independently verify the claims, and there has been no immediate statement from Israeli or Hezbollah officials regarding the attack. A Hezbollah-affiliated source, speaking anonymously, confirmed that Israel conducted 11 consecutive strikes on the group’s southern Beirut stronghold, marking one of the most violent raids since Israel escalated its bombardment campaign last week.

The NNA further reported that the strikes were felt as far as the mountain regions outside Beirut. Earlier in the evening, Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee had issued a warning to residents of the Burj al-Barajneh neighborhood in southern Beirut, urging them to evacuate due to their proximity to Hezbollah facilities.

“You are located near facilities and interests belonging to Hezbollah, and the IDF (Israeli army) will work against them in the near future,” Adraee posted on social media platform X, along with maps of the area.

In addition to the strikes on southern Beirut, a Hezbollah-linked source told AFP that another Israeli airstrike had hit a warehouse near Beirut’s international airport. The contents of the warehouse remain unclear, and no further details have been provided.

Earlier in the day, the NNA had reported multiple Israeli “enemy raids,” with one Hezbollah source confirming that a building housing the group’s media relations office had been targeted. The office had been evacuated prior to the strikes.

This wave of strikes comes amid an escalation in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, following Israel’s announcement earlier this week that it had begun “ground raids” into southern Lebanon after days of heavy bombardment on Hezbollah strongholds. The conflict, which has intensified over the past year with intermittent cross-border skirmishes, has shifted Israel’s military focus from Gaza to Lebanon. Heavy bombing has reportedly killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes.

The recent violence follows the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike in southern Beirut last week. Safieddine, head of Hezbollah’s executive council, is widely seen as Nasrallah’s successor, although Hezbollah has officially refuted reports that Safieddine has already been appointed as the new secretary-general.