Hezbollah Loses Contact With Potential New Leader After Israeli Airstrike

Hezbollah lost contact with a potential successor to slain leader Hassan Nasrallah after he was targeted by an Israel airstrike, according to reports Saturday.

Hashem Safieddine hasn't been heard from since Friday, CNN and Reuters said, with each news outlet citing an unidentified Lebanese security source.

Israel attacked a site in Beirut's southern suburbs in an attempt to assassinate Safieddine on Friday, CNN said.

Additional airstrikes since Friday have kept rescue workers from searching the area in Dahiyeh, a residential area that also serves as a Hezbollah stronghold, Reuters said, citing multiple Lebanese security sources.

A Lebanese security source told Sky News Arabia that the possibility that anyone survived the attack, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Safieddine was believed to have been hiding in a deep underground bunker, according to Axios.

As the head of Hezbollah's executive council, Safieddine was among the most likely successors to Nasrallah, who was a maternal cousin, CNN said.

Safieddine was designated a foreign terrorist by the U.S. in 2017 and he vowed that Hezbollah "will not back down until the end" following the pager and walkie-talkie explosions that killed at least 37 people and injured about 3,000 others last month, CNN said.