Hashem Safieddine, a powerful cleric in the party’s ranks, was expected to succeed Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in another Israeli airstrike in September.
The Israeli military said it killed Hashem Safieddine, a senior Hezbollah official expected to become the group’s next leader, in a strike on Tuesday.
They say he was killed earlier this month in an airstrike in southern Beirut, shortly after the assassination of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The activist group did not immediately confirm Safieddine’s fate.
The strike that killed Saffieddine also killed 25 other Hezbollah leaders, according to Israel, whose airstrikes in southern Lebanon in recent months have killed many senior Hezbollah leaders.
The Beirut suburb where Safieddine was allegedly killed was the target of new airstrikes on Tuesday, one of which razed a building that Israel said housed Hezbollah facilities.
Last week, Israel killed Yahya Sinwar, a top Hamas leader and the architect of the October 7 attacks in Israel, which sparked a devastating year-long conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Hours after Sinwar’s death, foreign leaders reiterated their calls for a ceasefire, saying his death opened a new opportunity for continued talks.
Since then, however, both sides have renounced their demands, with Hezbollah announcing that Sinwar’s death marked the start of an “escalation” phase of the conflict.
Iran, which supports Hezbollah, called Sinwar an “inspiration” and said his death would only strengthen the groups.
Fighting on all sides has continued since his death, with Israel continuing its ground incursion into southern Lebanon and continuing its fighting in northern Gaza, where aid groups have warned of a humanitarian catastrophe.
