Hezbollah source says contact ‘lost’ with top figure Hashem Safieddine

A high-level Hezbollah source said on Saturday that contact with Hashem Safieddine, widely touted as potentially the group’s next leader, had been lost following Israeli strikes on Lebanon this week.

“Contact with … Safieddine has been lost since the violent strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs” early on Friday, the official told Agence France-Presse.

“We don’t know if he was at the targeted site, or who may have been there with him,” he added.

A second source close to Hezbollah also confirmed that communication had been cut off with Safieddine and that his whereabouts were unknown.

Hezbollah “is trying to reach the underground headquarters that were targeted, but every single time Israel starts striking again to impede rescue efforts”, he said.

Safieddine “was with Hezbollah’s head of intelligence”, known as Hajj Murtada, when the strikes took place, he said.

Both sources requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.