Multiple Israeli strikes on Beirut target Nasrallah’s likely successor: Source

At least one Israeli strike early on Friday hit outside the perimeter of Beirut’s international airport, according to a source in Lebanon’s ministry of transport and public works.

The Israeli strike on Beirut targeted senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said in a post on social media platform X early on Friday, citing an Israeli source.

Safieddine is the man widely regarded as the heir of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Reuters could not confirm the information in the social media post and there was no immediate official statement from any side.

A source close to Lebanon’s Hezbollah group said Israel had conducted 11 consecutive strikes on the group’s south Beirut stronghold, with AFP correspondents in the capital and beyond hearing the loud bangs.

“Israel struck the southern suburbs 11 consecutives times,” the source said on the condition of anonymity. The bombardment was so intense that car alarms went off and buildings shook in Beirut and its outskirts.

A series of loud explosions were heard near Lebanon’s Beirut airport, with smoke seen nearby after jets were heard overhead, Reuters witnesses said.

Earlier, another source close to Hezbollah said an Israeli strike targeted a warehouse next to Beirut airport Thursday.

“An Israeli air strike targeted a warehouse adjacent to the airport,” the source told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. It was unclear what the warehouse contained.

Thirty seven people were killed and 151 wounded in Israeli strikes on Lebanon in the past 24 hours, the Lebanese health ministry said in a statement early on Friday.