Israel prepares for war with Iran

Israel’s defence minister has said he believes an airstrike on Beirut last week killed Hashem Safieddine, the man widely expected to become the new Hezbollah leader. READ MORE: Safieddine, who was the cousin of the former leader, Hassan Nasrallah, as well as a senior figure in his own right, was targeted in a strike on Thursday night. Since then, Lebanese officials have told local reporters that there had been no word from him. Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defence minister, spoke to officers on Israel’s northern front, near the border with Lebanon, in a video released on Tuesday. “Hezbollah is an organisation without a head,” he said. “Nasrallah was eliminated, his replacement was probably also eliminated. Read the best of our journalism: Subscribe to The Times and The Sunday Times YouTube channel: