Contact 'lost' with Hezbollah chief Nasrallah's presumed successor Hashem Safieddine: Reports

Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group said on Saturday (Oct 5) that they had lost contact with their potential next leaderHashem Safieddine, a high-levelsource from the Lebanon-based grouptold news agency AFP.

"Contact with Sayyed Safieddine has been lost since the violent strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs" early Friday, the source told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

"We don't know if he was at the targeted site, or who may have been there with him," the source added.

Israeli airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs in Lebanon have kept rescue workers from searching the site of another attacksuspected to have killed Hezbollah's potential next leaderHashem Safieddine, reported Reuters citing three Lebanese security sources, on Saturday.

One of the sources said Safieddine, who was reportedly supposed to take over the Lebanon-based militant group after the death of Hezbollah chiefHassan Nasrallah,has been "unreachable" since the Israelistrike on Friday (Oct 4), which targeted an underground bunker in Beirut.

On Friday morning, the Israeli military said that the airstrike in Beirut targeted Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters. However, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) did not reveal who was at the underground bunker.

Watch |Israel-Hezbollah War: Nasrallah's Presumed Successor Safieddine Said to Be Target of Latest Strikes

Israel carried out a large strike on Beirut's southern suburbs lateThursday.

On Friday, Israeli Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said that the military is still assessing the Thursday night strikes, which he said targeted Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters.

The Israeli strikes on Hezbollah's HQ killed its chief Hassan Nasrallah last week.

Israeli strike reportedly targeted Safieddine

Earlier on Friday, Axios reporter Barak Ravid, citing an Israeli source, said in a post on social media platform X that Israel reportedly targeted senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine.

He is said to be the heir of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. However, no official statement has been released to confirm Ravid's report.

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(With inputs from agencies)