Netanyahu claims Israel has eliminated Hezbollah chief Nasrallah’s successors

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that Israel’s military has eliminated key members who were in succession to assume leadership of militant outfit Hezbollah.

Netanyahu’s claim came even as Hezbollah launched a fresh barrage of rockets into Israel which is fighting battles on multiple fronts.

‘Took out Nasrallah’s successors’

“We’ve degraded Hezbollah’s” capabilities. We took out thousands of terrorists, including Nasrallah himself, his successor, and even the successor’s replacement,” Netanyahu said in a pre-recorded video message on Tuesday (October 8).

Netanyahu, however, didn’t divulge the names of the killed operatives.

Also read: Hezbollah launches missiles into Tel Aviv, Haifa as Israel fights battles on multiple fronts

Earlier, Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant had claimed that Hashem Safieddine, who was in line to succeed the late Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, has been killed. It is not clear if Netanyahu was referring to Safieddine in his address.

Message to Lebanon residents

He also urged the residents of Lebanon to “free yourselves from Hezbollah”.

“You can now take back your country and return it to a path of peace and prosperity,” he said in the video message.

He, however, warned that the Lebanese people’s failure to act would lead to dire consequences and a Gaza-like fate.

“If you don’t, Hezbollah will continue to try to fight Israel from densely populated areas at your expense,” he said adding, “You have an opportunity to save Lebanon before it falls into the abyss of a long war that will lead to destruction and suffering like we see in Gaza.”

Also read: Hamas’s Oct 7, 2023 attack tactically brilliant, strategically foolish

Biden to call up Netanyahu

Lebanese state-run media has reported of “massive destruction” in overnight Israeli strikes that destroyed four residential buildings in a southern Beirut suburb.

According to Axios which quoted three US officials, President Joe Biden is expected to hold telephonic talks with Netanyahu on Wednesday to probe about any plans by Israel to attack Iran.