Shock moment 2000lb bomb hits Beirut; Rising Hezbollah leader Hashem Safieddine killed
Terrifying footage shows the destruction of an apartment building in an Israeli air strike as the army confirmed it “eliminated” Hezbollah’s Hashem Safieddine. See the photos and video.
Shocking footage has captured the moment a 2000lb bomb destroyed a multistorey apartment building in Beirut during an Israeli air strike.
Incredible images showed the descent of the bomb before it smashed into the building in the city’s Ghobeiry neighbourhood, reducing it to rubble within seconds.
There was no immediate confirmation of casualties from the building, which Israel claimed it housed “Hezbollah facilities”. However, those claims haven’t been confirmed.
It came as Israel’s army confirmed it had “eliminated” Hezbollah’s Hashem Safieddine, the apparent successor of slain leader Hassan Nasrallah, in a strike in a southern Beirut suburb three weeks ago.
“It can now be confirmed that in an attack approximately three weeks ago, Hashem Safieddine, the head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council, and Ali Hussein Hazima, the head of Hezbollah’s Intelligence Directorate, were killed along with other Hezbollah commanders,” the army said in a statement.
Hezbollah has not yet issued a statement regarding the claim.
On October 8, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the military has “taken out” Safieddine, without specifically naming him.
In an address to the people of Lebanon, Mr Netanyahu said Israeli forces “took out thousands of terrorists, including (Hezbollah leader Hassan) Nasrallah himself and Nasrallah’s replacement and the replacement of his replacement.”
Late on Tuesday local time, the army said that Israel’s air force “conducted a precise, intelligence-based strike on Hezbollah’s main intelligence headquarters,” in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, Hezbollah’s stronghold in the Lebanese capital three weeks ago.
The statement added that over 25 militants of Hezbollah were present in the headquarters during the strike, “including Bilal Saib Aish, who was in charge of aerial intelligence gathering”.
A member of Hezbollah’s decision-making body and a distant relative of Nasrallah, Safieddine was out of contact since Israeli strikes on Beirut weeks ago, a high-level Hezbollah source said at the time.
A source close to Hezbollah told AFP in early October that the deeply religious cleric Safieddine, who had good relations with Hezbollah backer Iran, was the “most likely” candidate for the party’s top job.
Grey-bearded and bespectacled, Safieddine bore a striking resemblance to his distant cousin Nasrallah, but was several years his junior, aged in his late 50s or early 60s.
“We have reached Nasrallah, his replacement and most of Hezbollah’s senior leadership”, the Israeli army’s chief Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said in a statement late on Tuesday after the confirmation of Safieddine’s death.
It comes as a Hezbollah drone managed to shatter the glass of Mr Netanyahu’s bedroom window before it was thwarted.
Israeli censors originally banned local media from publicising images and video showing just how close the enemy got to the leader of the Jewish state in Saturday’s attack.
However they relaxed the ban on Tuesday with shocking footage showing the shattered glass and trail of debris left in Mr Netanyahu’s yard after the drone exploded.
Hezbollah took responsibility for the attack on Tuesday issuing a terrifying warning to the Israeli PM.
“The Islamic Resistance fully and exclusively claims responsibility for the Caesarea operation and the targeting of … Netanyahu’s home,” Hezbollah’s head of media relations, Mohammad Afif said in a statement on Tuesday.
“If we haven’t reached you yet, know that between us and you are the days, the nights, and the battlefield.”
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Originally published as Shock moment 2000lb bomb hits Beirut; Rising Hezbollah leader Hashem Safieddine killed