Israel’s military on Tuesday confirmed that it killed the new presumed leader of Hezbollah, Hashem Safieddine, during a strike on Hezbollah’s main intelligence headquarters earlier this month. 

Safieddine, who was head of the Hezbollah Executive Council, was eliminated during a strike approximately three weeks ago, Israel’s Defense Forces said on Tuesday. The commander of Hezbollah’s Intelligence Headquarters, Ali Hussein Hazima, who was “responsible for directing numerous attacks on IDF soldiers,” was also killed during the strike, the statement said.

Israel targeted Safieddine in a series of strikes hitting the southern suburbs of Beirut on October 4, as the Sun reported at the time, but it wasn’t immediately confirmed then if he had been killed.

Safieddine “was a member of the Shura Council, Hezbollah’s most senior military-political forum, responsible for the decision-making and policy-making in the terrorist organization,” the IDF said on Tuesday, adding that he was the cousin of Hezbollah’s former leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Safieddine had “significant influence on decision-making within Hezbollah,” the IDF said, and when Nasrallah was away from Lebanon, Safieddine would fill in for him. 

“Throughout the years, Safieddine directed terrorist attacks against the State of Israel and took part in Hezbollah’s central decision-making processes,” the IDF said.