Explosions near Beirut airport in Lebanon, Hashem Safieddine targeted: Reports

In the early hours of Friday, October 4, a series of massive explosions rattled the sky near Beirut's main airport shortly after an aircraft landed. Data from Flightradar 24 indicated that the flight was Middle East Airlines ME429, arriving from Dubai. Although the explosions were not confined to the airport itself, they were visible from Sin El Fil, located 6.8 kilometers northwest of the airport. Reports from Reuters suggest that an Israeli airstrike in Beirut targeted senior Hezbollah leader Hashem Safieddine, who is considered a potential successor to the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. However, neither the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) nor Hezbollah has issued any official statements regarding the incident. According to The New York Times, Israel launched a significant barrage of airstrikes on Beirut around midnight Thursday, likely while Safieddine was attending a meeting of senior Hezbollah officials in an underground bunker.