Rumors are swirling on Hebrew news outlets and social media that the target of a massive Israeli strike in central Beirut this morning was either new Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem or senior Hezbollah officer Talal Hamiya.
Qassem was appointed to lead the Iran-backed terror group after his predecessor Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated in a massive Israeli airstrike on Hezbollah’s underground headquarters in southern Beirut.
Hamiya was appointed to lead the terror group’s operations division after Israel killed Ibrahim Aqil, the head of Hezbollah’s military operations in a Beirut strike on September 20.
Hezbollah’s al-Manar broadcaster reports that at least four people were killed and 23 wounded in the attack in Beirut’s Basta neighborhood, which apparently destroyed an eight-story building and damaged several others around it.
There is no immediate Israeli comment on the strike.