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Netanyahu says Israel killed Hezbollah chief’s successor and ‘replacement’s replacement’

In a video message, the Israeli prime minister warns the people of Lebanon that their country faces destruction ‘like Gaza’

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Two women take a selfie next to a newly painted graffiti of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Tel Aviv, Israel, in September. Photo: AP

Israeli forces have killed the would-be successors of late Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday, without naming them.

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“We’ve degraded Hezbollah’s capabilities. We took out thousands of terrorists, including Nasrallah himself and Nasrallah’s replacement, and the replacement of the replacement,” Netanyahu said in a pre-recorded video message.

Netanyahu did not identify by name Nasrallah’s replacement that he claimed Israel had killed.

A Hezbollah official said on Sunday that Israel was obstructing search and rescue efforts in an area where Nasrallah’s potential successor Hashem Safieddine is thought to have been when Israel bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday.

Israel killed Nasrallah in a September air strike on Beirut.

Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli air strike in Beirut, Lebanon, on Sunday. Photo: AP
Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli air strike in Beirut, Lebanon, on Sunday. Photo: AP

Earlier on Tuesday, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Nasrallah’s replacement had probably been “eliminated”.

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