Israel confirms death of heir apparent to slain Hezbollah leader
TEL AVIV/JERUSALEM/CAIRO, Oct 22 (Reuters) -Israel on Tuesday confirmed it had killed Hashem Safieddine, the heir apparent to late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah who was killed last month in an Israeli attack targeting the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group.以色列周二确认已杀死哈希姆·萨菲丁，他是已故真主党领导人哈桑·纳斯鲁拉（Hassan Nasrallah）的继承人，后者上个月在以色列针对这一伊朗支持的黎巴嫩武装组织的袭击中被杀。The military said Safieddine was killed in a strike carried out three weeks ago in Beirut's southern suburbs, its first confirmation of his death. Earlier this month, Israel said he had probably been eliminated.以色列军方表示，萨菲丁是在三周前贝鲁特南郊的袭击中被杀，这是以色列首次确认他的死亡。本月早些时候，以色列表示他可能已被消灭。There was no immediate response from Hezbollah to Israel's statement that it had killed Safieddine.对于以色列声称杀死萨菲丁的声明，真主党尚未立即回应。"We have reached Nasrallah, his replacement and most of Hezbollah's senior leadership. We will reach anyone who threatens the security of the civilians of the State of Israel," said Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi.以色列军队首席指挥官赫齐·哈莱维（Herzi Halevi）中将表示：“我们已经找到了纳斯鲁拉、他的继任者和大多数真主党的高级领导人。我们将追捕任何威胁以色列平民安全的人。”Israel has been carrying out an escalating offensive in Lebanon after a year of border clashes with Hezbollah, the most formidably armed of Iran's proxy forces across the Middle East.在与真主党发生了一年的边境冲突后，以色列在黎巴嫩开展了升级的攻势，真主党是伊朗在中东最强大的代理武装。
The group has been acting in support of Palestinian militants fighting Israel in Gaza but is reeling from a spate of killings of its senior commanders in Israeli airstrikes in recent weeks.该组织一直在支持在加沙与以色列作战的巴勒斯坦武装分子，但在最近几周以色列空袭中其多名高级指挥官被杀，使其感到震惊。A relative of Nasrallah, Safieddine was appointed to its Jihad Council - the body responsible for its military operations - and to its executive council, overseeing Hezbollah's financial and administrative affairs.作为纳斯鲁拉的亲属，萨菲丁被任命为其圣战委员会——负责军事行动的机构，以及其执行委员会，负责监督真主党的财务和行政事务。Safieddine assumed a prominent role speaking for Hezbollah during the last year of hostilities with Israel, addressing funerals and other events that Nasrallah had long been unable to attend for security reasons.在与以色列的最后一年冲突中，萨菲丁担任真主党的发言人，主持葬礼和其他纳斯鲁拉因安全原因长期无法出席的活动。
Israel has so far shown no sign of relenting in its Gaza and Lebanon campaigns even after assassinating several leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, which lost Nasrallah, its powerful secretary-general, in a Sept. 27 airstrike.迄今为止，以色列在其对加沙和黎巴嫩的行动中并未表现出任何缓和的迹象，即使在暗杀了哈马斯和真主党的几位领导人之后，真主党在9月27日的空袭中失去了其强大的秘书长纳斯鲁拉。
Diplomats say Israel aims to lock in a strong position before a new U.S. administration takes over following the Nov. 5 election between Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump.外交官表示，以色列希望在11月5日副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯与前总统唐纳德·特朗普的选举后新美国政府接管之前巩固自己的强势地位。