A senior Hezbollah commander, Hashem Safieddine, was killed, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said on Twitter late Tuesday.

This is the first confirmation of the martyrdom of Safieddine, who was seen as the successor to the group's Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, since reports of his being targeted in Israeli strikes on Lebanon.

In early October, heavy Israeli airstrikes hit the southern suburbs of Beirut, and Israeli media reports said at the time that the strike targeted Hashem Safieddine, the potential successor to the late Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated by Israel.

At that time, the Israeli occupation army refused to deny or confirm targeting Hezbollah leader Hashem Safieddine.

For its part, Hezbollah did not comment on Safieddine’s fate, and stressed that it announces its positions only through official statements, in response to what it described as “rumors” published by some media outlets about the fate of its leaders after recent Israeli raids on the southern suburbs of Beirut.