A Lebanese source says Nasrallah’s possible replacement hasn’t been in touch since Friday

A Lebanese security source said on Saturday that the possible replacement for the dead Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has not been in touch since Friday. This is because he is thought to have been targeted by an Israeli airstrike.

In its fight against the Iranian-backed Lebanese group, Israel launched a large attack on the southern suburbs of Beirut late Thursday night. Three Israeli sources told Axios that the attack was aimed at Hashem Safieddine, who was hiding in an underground bunker.

The Lebanese security source and two other Lebanese security sources said that rescue workers have not been able to search the attack site because Israel has been bombing Dahiyeh, a neighborhood in the south of Beirut, since Friday.

So far, Hezbollah hasn’t said anything about Safieddine since the attack.

According to Israeli Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani, the military was still looking into the airstrikes that happened Thursday night and were meant to hit Hezbollah’s intelligence center. This was said on Friday.

The potential replacement for Nasrallah would be a big loss for Hezbollah and Iran, which backs the group. Since last year, Israeli attacks in the area have killed most of Hezbollah’s leaders. In the last few weeks, these attacks have sped up dramatically.

A Lebanese security source said that Israel’s conflict in Lebanon grew on Saturday with its first strike in the northern city of Tripoli. This came after more bombs hit the suburbs of Beirut and Israeli troops went on raids in the south.

The last few weeks have seen Israel send troops across the border and start a heavy bombing operation in Lebanon. This comes after nearly a year of fighting with Hezbollah. Before, most of the fighting happened along the border between Israel and Lebanon. This was happening at the same time as Israel’s year-long war in Gaza against the Palestinian group Hamas.

Tens of thousands of Israelis have been trapped in their homes in northern Israel since October 8 of last year. Israel says it wants to let them go back safely.

Many of Hezbollah’s top military leaders have been killed by Israeli strikes. On September 27, an air attack killed Secretary General Nasrallah.

Hundreds of regular Lebanese people, including rescue workers, have also been killed in the attack, and 1.2 million people, or almost a quarter of the population, have been forced to leave their homes.

One person in charge of security in Lebanon told Reuters that the attack on a Palestinian refugee camp in Tripoli on Saturday killed a Hamas member, his wife, and their two children. Palestinian media also said that the attack killed a leader of the group’s armed side.

The Israeli military didn’t say anything right away about the attack on Tripoli, a port city with a population of Sunni Muslims that it also attacked during a war with Hezbollah in 2006.

In the meantime, Israel has been bombing Dahiyeh every night. This area of Beirut used to be busy and full of people, and it was a haven for Hezbollah.

On Saturday, there was a lot of smoke over Dahiyeh. A lot of the neighborhood has been destroyed, and people have been forced to leave for other parts of Beirut or Lebanon.

There was rocket fire from Lebanon while air raid sirens went off in northern Israel. People ran for cover.

Israel is cutting off options for Iran.

Israel says that about 250 people were taken hostage during Hamas’ attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 people. The violence is happening just as the anniversary of that attack approaches.

According to Gaza’s health minister, Israel’s subsequent attack on Gaza has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians and forced most of the 2.3 million people who live there to leave their homes.

Israel has been attacking Syria with a lot of bombs this year, killing several top leaders in Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards Corps. On Tuesday, Iran fired a bunch of ballistic missiles at Israel. The strikes didn’t do much harm.

Israel has been thinking about what it can do in reaction to Iran’s attack.

As Israel tries to push back Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and kill their Hamas allies in Gaza, oil prices have gone up because of the chance of an attack on Iran’s oil plants.

U.S. President Joe Biden told Israel on Friday that they should think about other options besides attacking Iranian oil fields. He also said that he believes Israel has not yet decided how to reply to Iran.

Ynet, an Israeli news site, said that Army General Michael Kurilla, the top U.S. general for the Middle East, is going to visit Israel tomorrow. Officials from both the US and Israel could not be reached for comment right away.