A high-level Hezbollah source reported on Saturday that communication with Hashem Safieddine, who is widely considered a potential successor to the group's leadership, had been severed following recent Israeli strikes.
"Contact with Sayyed Safieddine has been lost since the intense strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs" early on Friday, the official informed AFP.
"We are uncertain if he was at the targeted location, or who else might have been with him," the source added. A second source affiliated with Hezbollah also verified that contact with Safieddine had been disrupted, and his current location remains unknown.
Hezbollah is attempting to reach the underground headquarters that were hit, but "every time they try, Israel resumes its strikes to obstruct rescue operations," the source explained. Safieddine "was with Hezbollah's intelligence chief, known as Hajj Murtada, during the strikes," he noted.
Both sources chose to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the subject. Earlier on Friday, a source close to Hezbollah disclosed that Israel had executed 11 consecutive strikes on the group's stronghold in south Beirut, marking one of the most aggressive raids since Israel escalated its bombing campaign last week.
