Israel carried out a ‘surgical bombing’ in Beirut on Friday night against the head of Hezbollah’s executive committee Hashim Safieddin, three Israeli officials said.

Hashim Safieddin was the frontrunner to succeed Hassan Nasrallah as Hezbollah leader. An Israeli official said he was in a shelter, well below the ground, and it was not yet clear if he was killed in the attack.

Safieddin is on the State Department’s list as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. Listed in May 2017.

The Israeli strike took place in a suburb south of Beirut, where many Hezbollah infrastructures are located.

According to Lebanese press reports, the Israeli strike it was much stronger than the one that killed Nasrallah last week. The number of victims is not yet known.

The New Yokr Times reports that Safieddin is Nasrallah’s cousin and joined Hezbollah shortly after it was founded in 1985. Since then, he has rapidly risen through the ranks and has come to be seen as Nasrallah’s successor.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Beirut today (video of his plane) as Israel steps up its bombing campaign against Hezbollah, the state-run Lebanese news agency ANI reported.

Aragchi is scheduled to meet with Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati and parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a close ally of Hezbollah, according to his schedule.

This is the first visit to Lebanon by a high-ranking Iranian official since the September 27 assassination of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli strike.

The Israeli army spokesman warned residents of more than 38 settlements in southern Lebanon to evacuate immediately in the face of further strikes.