Israel continues to attack Hezbollah’s ‘military and political assets’
Powerful blasts were heard overnight across the capital. Security sources say there were 11 consecutive strikes similar to the night when Israel assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an underground bunker last week.
The Israeli army has made no statement. Israeli media are saying the possible target was Hashem Safieddine, a top figure in Hezbollah and Nasrallah’s cousin. He is a potential successor. If indeed he was killed, this would be another major setback for the organisation. Israel is attacking anyone or anything that is associated with Hezbollah.
Officials in the organisation talk about the possibility of an Israeli mole. There is a lot of disarray in its ranks. Israel is going after its military and political assets.
No comment from Israel, Hezbollah on report Hashem Safieddine targeted in Beirut strike
It wasn’t just one bomb. It wasn’t just two bombs. It wasn’t just three bombs. It was 11 in total hitting the southern suburb of Dahiyeh. We’re hearing that bunker busters were used. That’s the nickname for very, very large munitions that can tunnel into the ground and then explode.
I’m going to stress that it is only the Israeli media that has said the target was Hashem Safieddine.
Hashem Safieddine is a very crucial part of Hezbollah. He was there at the beginning in 1982, when the party was formed. He’s had a variety of roles through the years … and is widely tipped to become the next secretary-general of the Hezbollah party.
Let’s just take precedents here in other assassinations. What Hezbollah does is be very careful. They either try and find some DNA evidence or visual evidence of the person being assassinated, and then they confirm it.
So if he has been assassinated, then this is going to be a blow to Hezbollah. But Hezbollah is an adaptable organisation, and it knows that its leaders are in the firing line. So there will be some sort of contingency that they will have in place to deal with things like this.
Now … the Israeli military officially has not said they were targeting him, and Hezbollah hasn’t confirmed either.
Israeli bombardment targeted meeting of Hezbollah leaders in Beirut bunker: Reports
Israeli media confirms, according to unnamed military sources, that the target of the attack was Hashem Safieddine.
Some reports indicate that there was a meeting of top leaders of Hezbollah in a bunker and that location was the target of those successive air strikes using those large munitions.
We have to remind our readers that any report in the Israeli media concerning military issues is subject to the military censor. So it is unlikely that those media reports did not rely on information cleared by the Israeli army. But there is no confirmation yet from the Israeli side and the Lebanese that the assassination attempt was, in fact, successful.
Smoke rises over Beirut’s southern suburbs after a strike on Thursday night
Israeli army has ‘a never-ending list’ of potential targets
The amount of intelligence Israel has on Hezbollah is enormous. Some speculation among analysts – and this is not confirmed – is the Israeli military could have been targeting a Shura Council meeting to confirm Hashem Safieddine as the next secretary-general.
The Israelis seem to have a never-ending list of targets. It’s almost as if they’ve tagged people. They know where they are and at what time. And even after that major security breach over the past two weeks, it’s clear just how much they’ve infiltrated the intelligence system.
It seems Hezbollah cannot end the eyes on it that Israel has. We’re going to have to wait and see. The Israelis have said nothing. Usually they’re trying to confirm their target was assassinated, which of course takes time.
(International law prohibits without exception, the extra-judicial killing and considers it as a grave violation of international humanitarian law, and human rights protocols)
