Israel’s army said it had killed the cleric tipped to succeed slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an air strike on Beirut three weeks ago that targeted commanders of the Iran-backed militant group, writes The Jakarta Post.

Hezbollah has not issued a statement about the Israeli claims to have killed Hashem Safieddine. “It can now be confirmed that in an attack approximately three weeks ago, Hashem Safieddine, the head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council, and Ali Hussein Hazima, the head of Hezbollah’s Intelligence Directorate, were killed along with other Hezbollah commanders”, -the Israeli army said.

The army said the air force had hit Hezbollah’s main intelligence headquarters in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, Hezbollah’s stronghold in the Lebanese capital, and that more than 25 Hezbollah militants were present at the time. Longtime Hezbollah leader Nasrallah was killed on September 27 in an Israeli air strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs.