DUBAI, October 5. /TASS/. Hezbollah Executive Council Head Hashem Safieddine, the main contender to be the group’s secretary-general, was killed in a recent Israeli attack on Beirut, Al Arabiya television reported, citing sources.

The strike, which took place on Friday, also killed several other ranking Hezbollah members and officers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to the report.

Al Arabiya previously reported that Hezbollah's main governing body, the Shura Council, elected Hashem Safieddine as its new secretary-general. Safieddine is a cousin of the group’s former leader Hassan Nasrallah, who died on September 27, and was considered to be the second-in-command at Hezbollah. As head of the group’s executive council, he oversaw political and internal affairs. Hezbollah didn’t formally announce it had elected a new leader.

On September 23, Israel started a military operation codenamed Northern Arrows against Hezbollah in Lebanon, carrying out widespread strikes at the group’s military sites. In a strike on September 27 Israel eliminated Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut. Overnight into October 1, Israel announced the start of a ground operation in the border areas of southern Lebanon.