Assassination of Hashem Safieddine | |
---|---|
Part of the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the Israel–Hezbollah war (2023–present) | |
Type | Airstrike |
Location | Dahieh, Lebanon 33°51′5″N35°30′14″E / 33.85139°N 35.50389°E |
Target | Hashem Safieddine |
Date | 3 October 2024 |
Executed by | Israeli Air Force |
On the night of 3 October 2024, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out an airstrike on an underground bunker in Dahieh, a predominantly Shia Muslim suburb in the south of Beirut, Lebanon, where Hezbollah leaders, including Hashem Safieddine, had convened in the headquarters of Hezbollah's Intelligence Branch. [1] [2] Safieddine was later confirmed dead by both the IDF and Hezbollah. [3] [4]
Hashem Safieddine was the cousin of and presumed successor to Hassan Nasrallah, who had been the leader of Hezbollah until he was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike on the Hezbollah headquarters on 27 September 2024. Safieddine, who was attending a meeting with senior Hezbollah officials at the time of the strike, was head of the Hezbollah executive council and the Jihad Council, which manages the group's military operations. Safieddine was designated a terrorist in May 2017 by the United States Department of State and Saudi Arabia for his leadership role in Hezbollah. [5] [6] According to the IDF, there were more than 25 members of Hezbollah's intelligence division inside the command headquarters, including Saeb Ayyash, the air assembly officer in the intelligence division, and Mahmoud Muhammad Shahin, the Hezbollah intelligence division officer in the Syrian branch. [7]
In the wider context of the latest Israel–Hezbollah war, at least 11 consecutive bombings took place in Dahieh on that occasion, reportedly targeting a meeting taking place in an underground bunker and consisting of several senior Hezbollah officials, including Safieddine and the group's chief of intelligence, Hussein Ali Hazimeh. [8] [1] It is unclear how many casualties were caused in the attack. The IDF said that the strikes targeted Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters. [9]
Around 73 tons of bombs were dropped on the bunker by the Israeli Air Force, and the strikes were reportedly larger than the attack that killed Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah on 27 September 2024. [9] [10] Footage of the aftermath showed giant balls of flame rising from the bunker with thick smoke and flares bursting out. The attack emitted loud bangs and caused buildings to shake. [1]
According to the Israeli Channel 12, Israeli security officials were "increasingly confident" that Safieddine had been killed in the attack. [5]
On 5 October, a Lebanese security source reported that Hezbollah lost contact with Safieddine, and that Hezbollah has not heard from him since the airstrike. [11] [12]
Al Arabiya and Al Hadath reported that Israel confirmed the assassination of Hashem Safieddine and all Hezbollah leaders that were with him. [13] On 8 October, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated that Safieddine was likely "eliminated". The claim was later repeated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. [14] [15] [16] On 22 October, the IDF formally announced his killing along with Hussein Hazimeh and 24 other senior Hezbollah members. [17] [4] [18] Hezbollah confirmed Sadieddine's death the following day, [19] and confirmed Hazimeh's death two days later. [20]
According to military analyst Elijah Magnier, the disappearance of Hashem Safieddine will not change Hezbollah's military strategy against Israel because "the team of special forces in the south of Lebanon are fighting independently of the political decision-making in Beirut". [21]
Hassan Nasrallah was a Lebanese cleric and politician who served as the third secretary-general of Hezbollah, a Shia Islamist political party and militia, from 1992 until his assassination in 2024.
Dahieh is a predominantly Shia Muslim suburb in the south of Beirut, in the Baabda District of Lebanon. It has a minority of Sunni Muslims, Christians, and a Palestinian refugee camp with 20,000 inhabitants. It is a residential and commercial area with malls, stores and souks, and comprises several towns and municipalities, including Ghobeiry, Haret Hreik, Bourj el-Barajneh, Ouzai, and Hay El-Saloum. It is north of Rafic Hariri International Airport, and the M51 freeway that links Beirut to the airport passes through it.
Hashem Safieddine was a Lebanese Shia cleric who served as the head of Hezbollah's Executive Council from 2001 until his assassination in 2024. A maternal cousin of Hassan Nasrallah, Safieddine was generally considered the "number two" in Hezbollah for many years. In 2017, he was declared a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the United States and was also designated as a terrorist by several of the Arab Gulf states. Following Nasrallah's assassination on 27 September 2024, during the Israel–Hezbollah conflict, Safieddine was widely considered his likely successor. On 3 October 2024, Safieddine was targeted by an Israeli airstrike in Dahieh, south of Beirut. His death in the strike was confirmed later that month.
The Jihad Council of Hezbollah is a council responsible for directing the groups' military and security activities. It also exercises considerable influence over the organization's various civilian branches and maintains ties with external partners, including Iran, a key patron of the group.
Lebanese and Hezbollah officials reported that at 2:30 a.m. local time on 25 August 2019, two drones crashed into the Dahieh district of Beirut, Lebanon. According to Lebanese officials, Israel launched a drone attack. Hezbollah denied exploding or targeting the drones. It was the first such incident between Israel and Lebanon since the 2006 Lebanon War.
Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah started exchanging fire along the Israel–Lebanon border and in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on 8 October 2023. Israel also carried out airstrikes throughout Lebanon and in Syria. The clashes were part of the spillover of the Israel–Hamas war and the largest escalation of the Hezbollah–Israel conflict since the 2006 Lebanon War. On 30 September 2024, Israel escalated the conflict into a ground invasion of Lebanon.
Events of the year 2024 in Israel.
Events in the year 2024 in Lebanon.
On 30 July 2024, Israel conducted an airstrike on an apartment building in Haret Hreik in the suburbs of the Lebanese capital of Beirut, killing Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr, Iranian military adviser Milad Bedi, as well as five Lebanese civilians, including two children, and wounding 80 others.
This timeline of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict covers the period from 2 January 2024, with the Assassination of Saleh al-Arouri, until 31 March 2024, one day prior to the Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
Ibrahim Aqil was a Lebanese militant leader who served as commander-in-chief of Hezbollah's special operations unit, the Redwan Force. He was a member of the Jihad Council, which oversees the military operations of the organisation. Some considered Aqil as the de facto Chief of Staff of Hezbollah.
On 23 September 2024, Israel began a series of airstrikes in Lebanon as part of the ongoing Israel–Hezbollah conflict with an operation it code-named Northern Arrows. Since then, Israel's attacks have killed over 800 people, injured more than 5,000, and displaced hundreds of thousands of Lebanese civilians. The attacks are the deadliest in Lebanon since the end of the Lebanese Civil War, and began five days after Israel performed a deadly pager and walkie-talkie attack on devices intended for Hezbollah members, and three days after Israel performed an airstrike on an apartment complex in Beirut which killed Redwan Force commander Ibrahim Aqil as well as 54 others.
Ali Karaki was a Lebanese militant who was a member of Hezbollah's Jihad Council. He served as the commander of the Southern Front of Hezbollah.
This timeline of the Israel–Hezbollah conflict covers the period from 17 September 2024, when Hezbollah pagers exploded throughout Lebanon and Syria to the present. Beginning 23 September, Israel began its airstrikes in Lebanon, on 27 September, they assassinated Hassan Nasrallah, and on 1 October, they invaded Lebanon.
On 27 September 2024, Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, was assassinated in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut. The strike took place while Hezbollah leaders were meeting at a headquarters located 60 feet (18 m) underground beneath residential buildings in Haret Hreik in the Dahieh suburb to the south of Beirut. Conducted by the Israeli Air Force using F-15I fighters, the operation involved dropping more than 80 bombs, including US-made 2,000-pound (910 kg) bunker buster bombs, destroying the underground headquarters as well as nearby buildings. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) codenamed the operation "New Order".
Hezbollah's Central Headquarters was located in the Southern Suburbs of Beirut (Dahieh), specifically in the Haret Hreik area, which is a heavily fortified zone, and was Hezbollah's central base of command and leadership, and included various administrative, military, and logistical facilities.
On 1 October 2024, Israel invaded Southern Lebanon in an escalation of the ongoing Israel–Hezbollah conflict, a spillover of the Israel–Hamas war. The invasion followed a series of major attacks on Hezbollah in September that degraded its capabilities and devastated its leadership, beginning with the explosions of its communication devices. Preceding the invasion, this was followed by a massive Israeli aerial bombing campaign throughout Lebanon, killing over 800 Lebanese people in one week in late September. On 27 September, Israel assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike.
On 10 October 2024, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out an airstrike in Bachoura in central Beirut, Lebanon, as part of the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. The airstrike in the densely populated neighborhood killed at least 22 Lebanese people and injured another 117. The apparent target of the airstrike was Wafiq Safa, the brother-in-law of former Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, who reportedly evaded the assassination attempt against him. Israel used US-made JDAM fit for 2,000-pound bombs in the attack. The attack has been the deadliest attack in Beirut since the start of the 2023 Israel–Hezbollah conflict on 8 October 2023.
On 23 November 2024, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out an airstrike in Basta in central Beirut, Lebanon, as part of the 2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon. The airstrike in the densely populated neighborhood killed at least 29 people and injured another 67 with 30 others missing.