Netanyahu says replacement for slain Hezbollah chief was killed

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that his forces have killed the replacement for slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in another blow for the Lebanese militant group.

Netanyahu, in a video address to the people of Lebanon, confirmed that Hashem Safieddine, who was expected to replace Nasrallah, was killed amid speculation of his death in a strike last week.

“We have degraded Hezbollah’s capabilities,” Netanyahu said. “We have taken out thousands of terrorists, including Nasrallah himself and Nasrallah’s replacement, and the replacement of his replacement.”

It was not immediately clear whom Netanyahu was referring to regarding the replacement of Safieddine, who was the chair of Hezbollah’s Executive Council and a cousin of Nasrallah; he has not been seen or heard from since an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on Friday.

Local Israeli media also reported Tuesday that Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told troops that Safieddine was likely killed.

Nasrallah was killed in a late September strike, shortly before Israeli forces moved into Lebanon to take the fight against Hezbollah on the ground. Israel has since moved operations to the southern coastline of Lebanon and continues to hammer the country with airstrikes.

Most of the commanders and high-ranking officials in Hezbollah have now been eliminated by Israel, which has been fighting against the Iranian-backed militant group for more than a year but has dramatically stepped up its attacks in the past two months.

Netanyahu said in his Tuesday address that it was Israel’s right to degrade Hezbollah, so they no longer posed a threat to his country and the some 60,000 displaced Israeli citizens from the border.

“Today Hezbollah is weaker than it has been for many, many years,” the Israeli leader said. “Now you, the Lebanese people, you stand at a significant crossroads. It is your choice. You can now take back your country. You can return it to a path of peace and prosperity.”

Netanyahu also made an address to the people of Iran last month, saying he supported efforts for regime change in Tehran.

He has also increasingly vowed to continue his fight against Iranian-backed groups and is also mulling a strike on Iran after Tehran fired some 180 ballistic missiles at Israel last week.