Israel takes out two successors to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, PM says

The Israeli military has taken out two successors to Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Hezbollah Shia organization who was killed earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu said in a message to the Lebanese people, released by his office, Report informs via TASS.

"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," the message reads.

Earlier, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that Hezbollah was "an organization without a leader," adding that chances were high that Nasrallah’s successor Hashem Safieddine had also been killed. According to him, there was no one in Hezbollah to make decisions and take action.

On September 23, Israel launched Operation Northern Arrows against the Lebanon-based Hezbollah Shia movement, carrying out massive airstrikes on its military targets.

The stated goal is to create safe conditions for the return of local residents to Israel’s northern border areas. A September 27 strike on Beirut killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

The Al Arabiya TV channel reported after Israel’s October 3 airstrike on southern Beirut that the attack had killed Hashem Safieddine, head of the Hezbollah Executive Council who was seen as the main contender for the movement’s secretary general following the death of Hassan Nasrallah.

According to the TV channel, the attack also killed several high-ranking Hezbollah officials, as well as Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers.