Shiite cleric and head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council Hashim Safieddine delivers a speech during a funeral organized by Hezbollah, in Beirut’s southern suburb, Lebanon, on September 18, 2024. Photo by Ammar Abd Rabbo/ABACAPRESS.COM
An Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Thursday evening targeted a meeting of top Hezbollah members, among them Hashem Safi al-Din, the terror group’s second-highest official and designated successor to its former leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
There was no immediate confirmation of whether Safi al-Din (or “Safieddine”) survived the strike.
Israeli media cited military sources saying that an underground intelligence headquarters was bombed during a meeting of top Hezbollah members.
The massive airstrike on a building in Beirut’s Dahiyeh suburb was described as even more intense than the strike that killed Nasrallah, Lebanese sources told Reuters. The echoes of the explosions were heard dozens of kilometers away, according to Lebanese media.
The strike targeting Safi al-Din and several of Hezbollah’s remaining leadership highlights Israel’s determination to destroy the group completely, according to Hanin Ghaddar, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy
“This drastically adds to Hezbollah’s humiliation within its community, and further erodes the trust between its ranks. It also means that Israel won’t stop or even shift gears after Nasrallah’s assassination,” she told the Wall Street Journal.
In recent days, Israeli airstrikes have specifically focused on targeting Hezbollah forces and infrastructure connected to the terror group’s production and supply network for weapons and ammunition.
Israel attacked the Dahiyeh at least 12 times overnight, according to Lebanese reports, after the IDF published two evacuation notices for several buildings in the neighborhood.
#عاجل ‼️ انذار عاجل إلى سكان الضاحية الجنوبية وتحديدًا المتواجدين في المباني المحددة في الخريطتيْن والواقعيْن في حي برج البراجنة
🔴أنتم متواجدون بالقرب من منشآت ومصالح تابعة لحزب الله وسيعمل ضدها جيش الدفاع على مدى الزمني القريب
🔴من أجل سلامتكم وسلامة أبناء عائلتكم عليكم… pic.twitter.com/zvYdvdeLBG— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) October 3, 2024
According to the AFP news agency, a weapons warehouse located close to the international airport was hit as well. “An Israeli airstrike targeted a warehouse adjacent to the airport,” according to their source.
Lebanese media reported that large numbers of civilians continued to evacuate the district, which is considered to be a primary Hezbollah stronghold in Lebanon, amid extensive attacks in recent days that reportedly destroyed entire city blocks.
Among those killed on Thursday was Muhammad Rashid Sakafi, the head of Hezbollah’s internal communications unit and “a veteran terrorist in Hezbollah,” according to the Israel Defense Forces.
Sakafi “served as the head of the communications system since 2000, was close to Hezbollah’s senior officials and had extensive experience and authority in the organization,” the army stated on Friday morning.
“The communications system serves as the headquarters unit responsible for maintaining communication continuity in the organization, and is responsible, among other things, for the development, maintenance and the use of Hezbollah’s communication systems in routine and emergency situations.”
Sakafi was likely eliminated when the IDF struck Hezbollah’s communications and intelligence building in Beirut, another blow to the group’s internal communications and intelligence-gathering capabilities.
#عاجل في الساعة الأخيرة: جيش الدفاع استهدف أهدافًا تابعة لركن الاستخبارات والاتصالات التابعة لحزب الله في بيروت
🔸قبل وقت قليل أغارت طائرات حربية تابعة لسلاح الجو بتوجيه استخباراتي من هيئة الاستخبارات على أهداف نابعة لركن الاستخبارات لحزب الله في بيروت حيث تواجد داخلها عناصر… pic.twitter.com/uqwTTZWeeL
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) October 3, 2024
In another significant elimination, one of the leaders of Hezbollah’s efforts to produce precision missiles was killed in Beirut this week.
The IDF said Muhammad Yosef Anisi had “unique knowledge with technological capabilities in the field of munitions production. Anisi joined the terrorist organization Hezbollah more than 15 years ago and was an expert in mechanical engineering, devoting his training to strengthening the organization with strategic means of warfare.”
Another strike the IDF announced Friday morning hit an underground tunnel crossing from Lebanon into Syria over 3.5 kilometers, and was used by Hezbollah to transfer weapons and store them underground.
“The infrastructure was operated by Unit 4400, the unit responsible for transferring weapons from Iran and its affiliates to Hezbollah in Lebanon. In the attack, military buildings, weapons warehouses and other terrorist infrastructure were destroyed,” according to the IDF.
Another high-profile strike hit the civilian border crossing “al-Masnaa,” located on the Beirut-Damascus Highway on the Syrian border.
In light of the IDF’s attack on the unofficial land border crossings between Syria and Lebanon, which are used to transfer weapons for Hezbollah, with an emphasis on the crossings in the northeastern Bekaa region, Hezbollah is concentrating an effort to transfer weapons from… pic.twitter.com/vcfwcAeS75
— Israel-Alma (@Israel_Alma_org) October 3, 2024
On Thursday, Israel revealed the use of the border crossing by Hezbollah to rearm itself and warned the State of Lebanon to prevent this.
“The IDF urges the State of Lebanon to conduct strict inspections of trucks passing through civilian crossings and to return trucks and vehicles containing combat equipment to Syria,” the IDF stated.
לפי דיווחים בלבנון, הלילה ישראל תקפה את מעבר הגבול ״אלמצנע״ בין לבנון לסוריה, שאותו צה״ל איים לתקוף בשל השימוש שחזבאללה עושה בו להברחות אמל״ח מאיראן.
זו הפעם הראשונה שישראל תוקפת בלבנון תשתית אזרחית מובהקת ששייכת למדינת לבנון.
ועם זאת, לא נראה שיש כאן שינוי מהותי במדיניות… pic.twitter.com/Uc966o67d8
— דורון קדוש | Doron Kadosh (@Doron_Kadosh) October 4, 2024
Despite this, attempts to smuggle weapons seem to have continued, prompting the IDF to strike the crossing several hours later.
Lebanese media reported the strike created a 4-meter (13-foot) wide crater, completely blocking the highway, which had recently been used by thousands of people fleeing Lebanon for Syria.
The strike rendered the crossing unpassable for vehicles, including those used for weapons smuggling overland from Iran. This was the first time Israel targeted ostensibly civilian infrastructure that Hezbollah had been exploiting for military purposes.
