Speculation is mounting regarding the fate of Esmail Qaani, the head of Iran’s Quds Force, who was last seen in Beirut over a week ago. Some reports claim that Qaani may have been killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Lebanese capital. He was in Beirut to support Hezbollah after a series of lethal Israeli airstrikes.

Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Saturday that Ghaani may have been hit in an airstrike that targeted Hashem Safieddine in an underground bunker in Beirut’s Dahiyeh neighborhood late on Thursday. Three Israeli officials confirmed to Axios that Safieddine was the target of the strike.

Hezbollah “is trying to reach the underground headquarters that were targeted, but every single time Israel starts striking again to impede rescue efforts,” he said. Safieddine “was with Hezbollah’s head of intelligence,” known as Hajj Murtada, when the strikes took place, he said.

According to three Iranian officials cited by the New York Times, Ghaani, 67, was in the Lebanese capital to assist Hezbollah following a series of devastating Israeli attacks that have disrupted its chain of command.

If reports are to be believed, Qaani was with Safieddine when the IDF airstrike struck them in an underground bunker.

His predecessor Qassem Soleimani was killed by an American drone strike in Iraq in 2020.

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