Israel can’t confirm death of Hezbollah’s Safieddine, spokesperson says

A high-level Hezbollah source said on October 5, 2024 that contact with Hashem Safieddine, widely touted as potentially the group’s next leader, had been lost following Israeli strikes this week. (AFP)
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Updated 07 October 2024
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Israel can’t confirm death of Hezbollah’s Safieddine, spokesperson says

  • Asked if Israel could confirm the death of Hashem Safieddine, spokesperson David Mencer said: “We don’t have that confirmation yet”

JERUSALEM: Israel cannot confirm whether the potential successor to the slain Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has been killed, a government spokesperson said on Monday, following reports that he was targeted in an Israeli air strike last week.
Asked if Israel could confirm the death of Hashem Safieddine, spokesperson David Mencer told an online briefing: “We don’t have that confirmation yet. When it is confirmed, as and when, it will be on the IDF (Israeli military) website.”
A Hezbollah official told Reuters on Sunday that Israel was obstructing search and rescue efforts in an area where Safieddine is thought to have been when Israel bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday.
Israel has killed much of Hezbollah’s military command and senior leadership in nearly a year of fighting that began when Hezbollah opened a front in solidarity with Palestinians the day after Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel.


Syria strongly condemns terrorist attack near Palmyra

Updated 51 min 16 sec ago
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Syria strongly condemns terrorist attack near Palmyra

  • Palmyra in the Homs countryside witnessed an armed attack targeting a joint patrol of Syrian security forces and US forces

DAMASCUS: Syria strongly condemned the terrorist attack that targeted a joint patrol of Syrian security forces and US forces near the city of Palmyra on Saturday, extending its condolences to the families of the victims as well as to the US government and people, the Syrian News Agency reported.

Earlier, Palmyra in the Homs countryside witnessed an armed attack targeting a joint patrol of Syrian security forces and US forces during a field tour in the area.

A gunman opened fire on the patrol, resulting in the deaths of two US soldiers and a civilian interpreter, in addition to injuring three US soldiers and two Syrian security personnel.

“Syria strongly condemns the terrorist attack that targeted a joint Syrian-US counterterrorism patrol near Palmyra. We extend our condolences to the families of the victims and to the US government and people, and we wish the injured a speedy recovery,” Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani said in a post on platform X.