News Mania / Piyal Chatterjee / 9th October 2024
In a statement, Hezbollah claimed that on Wednesday, two days after Israel declared it had killed two of the organization’s murdered leaders’ successors, the group targeted Israeli soldiers close to the Lebanese border village of Labbouneh with rockets and artillery shells. The Israeli military reported that sirens may be heard in northern Israel on Wednesday. It also stated that three Israeli military troops had suffered serious injuries during fighting in southern Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, announced on Tuesday that two of Hezbollah’s surviving leaders had been assassinated by Israeli aircraft.
Hours after the deputy head of Hezbollah, which is in shock following the deaths of several senior commanders in Israeli airstrikes, hinted at the possibility of a negotiated truce, Netanyahu made his remarks in a video made public by his office.
“We’ve degraded Hezbollah’s capabilities. We took out thousands of terrorists, including (Hassan) Nasrallah himself and Nasrallah’s replacement, and the replacement of the replacement,” Netanyahu said, without naming the latter two.
According to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Hashem Safieddine—who was supposed to be Nasrallah’s successor—had most likely been “eliminated”. Netanyahu’s reference to the “replacement of the replacement” did not immediately make apparent who he meant. Following the bombing of Hezbollah’s intelligence offices last week, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari stated that Israel knew Safieddine was inside and that his status was “being checked and when we know, we will inform the public.”
Since that airstrike, which was a part of an Israeli offensive that was intensifying following a year of border fighting with Hezbollah, Safieddine has not been heard from in public. The group has been assisting Palestinian militants battling Israel in Gaza and is the most impressively armed of Iran’s proxy forces operating throughout the Middle East.
According to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Hashem Safieddine—who was supposed to be Nasrallah’s successor—had most likely been “eliminated”. Netanyahu’s reference to the “replacement of the replacement” did not immediately make apparent who he meant. Following the bombing of Hezbollah’s intelligence offices last week, Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari stated that Israel knew Safieddine was inside and that his status was “being checked and when we know, we will inform the public.”
Since that airstrike, which was a part of an Israeli offensive that was intensifying following a year of border fighting with Hezbollah, Safieddine has not been heard from in public. The group has been assisting Palestinian militants battling Israel in Gaza and is the most impressively armed of Iran’s proxy forces operating throughout the Middle East.
Over 3,000 rockets have been shot into Israel from Lebanon so far in October, according to an Israeli military spokesman, but air defense intercepts have stopped many of the rockets from causing serious harm or casualties. In the last two weeks, the Israeli-Hezbollah confrontation has escalated to a point where over 1,000 people have died in Lebanon and over a million have fled in large numbers.On October 7, 2023, Hamas militants assaulted southern Israel, murdering 1,200 people and kidnapping 250 more, according to Israeli estimates. This attack set off the Gaza war.The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza reports that there has been considerable condemnation of Israel’s reprisal due to the approximately 42,000 deaths that have occurred there.
