The head of Hezbollah's Executive Council, Hashem Safieddine, surrounded by his bodyguards. (Credit: Mohammad Yassin/OLJ archives)
The Israeli army claims to have killed Hashem Safieddine, the head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council, in an airstrike on Oct. 3 targeting Beirut’s southern suburb of Mreijeh. Since the attack, Hezbollah had stated it had "no information" regarding Safieddine's fate.
According to the Israeli army, the strike killed Hashem Safieddine three weeks ago and targeted "the headquarters of Hezbollah's intelligence services, in an underground passage in Beirut's southern suburbs."
The army claimed Safieddine was present along with "more than 25 members" of Hezbollah’s intelligence unit, including "Ali Hussein Hazimeh, head of the party's intelligence staff, Saeb Ayyash, an air assembly officer, and Mahmoud Mohammad Shahine, an intelligence division officer in Syria."
"We reached [Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan] Nasrallah, his successor and most of Hezbollah's leadership. We will reach anyone who threatens the security of the citizens of the State of Israel." said the Israeli army's chief of staff Hezi Halevi.
Hezbollah has not yet officially announced Hashem Safieddine's death.