Hezbollah; Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group has confirmed that Israel air strike killed Hashem Safieddine, the apparent successor of its slain leader Hassan Nasrallah, in a strike.
This was made known today Wednesday 23 Oct. 2024, without stating when or where it happened.
“We mourn… the head of the Executive Council of Hezbollah, his eminence the scholar Sayyed Hashem Safieddine,” the Iran-backed group said in a statement, adding that was killed by “a criminal and aggressive Zionist raid” alongside other Hezbollah fighters.
ND Connect had reported that the United State Secretary Antony Blinken called for an end to the conflict in Gaza. He urged Israel to avoid further escalation with Iran.
This development follows, the fight between Israel and the Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel also pledged to hit back against Iran’s October 1 missile strike.
Meanwhile In Lebanon, the state media reported an Israeli drone strike on Tyre, after the military warned residents of parts of the coastal city to flee ahead of operations targeting Hezbollah.
The warning triggered a fresh wave of departures from the formerly lively city on the Mediterranean coast, while AFPTV footage captured a large plume of thick black smoke rising from the area following the strike.
Speaking on the strike, the head of disaster management unit in Tyre, Mortada Mhanna said: “The situation is very bad, we’re evacuating people.”
While Bilal Kashmar, the unit’s media officer said: “You could say that the entire city of Tyre is being evacuated.
Blinken’s trip to the region marks his 11th visit since the onset of the Gaza war and his first since the Israel-Hezbollah conflict escalated into all-out war late last month.
The Gaza war started with Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in 1,206 deaths, mostly among civilians, as reported by an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
According to reports and figures from the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, which the UN regards as reliable, Israel's retaliatory offensive has resulted in 42,718 deaths in Gaza, primarily among civilians.
“Since October 7 a year ago, Israel has achieved most of its strategic objectives when it comes to Gaza… Now is the time to turn those successes into enduring, strategic success,” Blinken said.
While on aid to Gaza, Blinken mentioned that he observed: “progress being made, which is good, but more progress needs to be made and, most critically, it needs to be sustained”.
