On October 9th, local time on October 8th, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu issued a video statement saying that Israel "has killed the successor of the former leader of Hezbollah Nasrallah in Lebanon, and the successor of the successor." In response, Israeli media believe that Netanyahu's statement is confirming that the Israeli army has killed Hashim Safiddin, a senior leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon, who was widely regarded as Nasrallah's successor.