Hezbollah, now run by committee, says Israel hampering search for missing leader

Israel is obstructing search and rescue efforts in an area where senior Hezbollah leader Hashem Safieddine is thought to have been when Israel bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday, a Hezbollah official says.

Safieddine is seen as a likely successor to former terror leader Hassan Nasrallah who was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, on September 27.

His fate remains unclear.

The senior Hezbollah political official, Mahmoud Qmati, also says he had no information on reports that the leader of Iran’s elite Quds Force Esmail Qaani has not been heard from since the strikes on Beirut late last week.

Israel should “let rescue teams do their work,” he tells Iraqi state television.

Qmati says Hezbollah is now being jointly led until it could pick a new leader, which would take time.

“What’s important is that joint command is in place,” he says.

“The method of choosing a replacement for the secretary-general takes time and requires appropriate circumstances, and for that reason we suffice today with temporary joint command,” he says.

Qmati says Nasrallah’s body remains in Lebanon and he will be laid to rest in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah holds heavy influence, when conditions allow.

Previous reports have suggested that Hezbollah fears a large funeral for Nasrallah could become a target for Israeli warplanes.