Israel's war on Hezbollah: Hassan Nasrallah's likely successor Hashem Safieddine taken down in Israeli airstrike

An Israeli strike in Beirut targeted Hashem Safieddine, senior official of the Iran-backed militant outfit Hezbollah. Safieddine was widely regarded as the likely successor of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to lead the Iran-backed terror outfit, newswire Reuters reported citing Israeli sources. 

There, however, is no official statement from the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) or the Hezbollah in Lebanon. As Tel Aviv steps up its offensive against Hezbollah, massive blasts jolted Beirut's southern suburbs, claiming several lives and reducing buildings to rubble.

Safieddine was designated as a terrorist by the US and Saudi Arabia in 2017. A cousin of Hassan Nasrallah, Hashem Safieddine played a key role in Hezbollah's political affairs and was also a member of the terror group's Jihad Council, which manages its military operations.

He was considered the "number two" in Hezbollah and has close ties with the Iranian regime. Nasrallah had appointed his cousin to various influential positions within Hezbollah, some of which are discreet. He was also a spokesperson for the group on many occasions. 

Furthermore, the IDF claimed that it has killed Mahmoud Yusuf Anisi, a senior terrorist involved in Hezbollah's precision-guided missile manufacturing chain in Lebanon. 

"Anisi joined Hezbollah over 15 years ago and was one of the leaders of the Hezbollah PGM campaign in Lebanon. He was a significant source of knowledge with many technological abilities in the field of weapons with many technological abilities in the field of weapons manufacturing," the IDF said in a social media post. 

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden said that an all-out war in the Middle East can be avoided. Biden told reported at the White House: "I don't believe that there is going to be an all-out war. I think we can avoid it." He added that there is a lot to do at present.

Nearly 1.2 million people were displaced from their homes in Lebanon due to the escalating conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed terror group. The US State Department said that around 250 Americans and their immediate families, including non-US citizens, have left the strife-ridden nation in the past 2 days on government-organised contract flights.