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Hezbollah Says it Struck Explosives Factory South of Haifa

A street in Haifa in northern Israel is nearly deserted as Yom Kippur begins at sunset on October 11, 2024. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
A street in Haifa in northern Israel is nearly deserted as Yom Kippur begins at sunset on October 11, 2024. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
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Hezbollah Says it Struck Explosives Factory South of Haifa

A street in Haifa in northern Israel is nearly deserted as Yom Kippur begins at sunset on October 11, 2024. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
A street in Haifa in northern Israel is nearly deserted as Yom Kippur begins at sunset on October 11, 2024. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)

Lebanon’s Hezbollah said on Saturday that it launched a salvo of missiles at an Israeli military base to the south of the city of Haifa.
Hezbollah fighters were "targeting the explosives factory there with a salvo of... missiles," the group said in a statement.
Air raid sirens sounded in northern Israel, with the Israeli military saying it had intercepted a projectile launched from Lebanon.
This came as the Israeli military made more evacuation orders to southern Lebanon residents.
The military has ordered residents of 22 southern Lebanese villages to evacuate to areas north of the Awali River, according to a statement released on Saturday.

Lebanese authorities said Friday that 60 people were killed and 168 wounded in the past 24 hours, raising the total toll over the past year of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah to 2,229 dead and 10,380 wounded.
Israel has been escalating its campaign against Hezbollah with waves of heavy airstrikes across Lebanon and a ground invasion at the border, after a year of exchanges of fire.

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Sources to Asharq Al-Awsat: Hezbollah’s Wafiq Safa is in Critical Condition

Hezbollah official Wafiq Safa (L) talks with Hezbollah parliament member Ali Ammar (R) as Druze Democratic Party chief Talal Arslan (2nd R) looks on after offering their condolences to Bassam Qantar (2nd L), the brother of Lebanese Hezbollah militant leader Samir Qantar who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Damascus early on Sunday, in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon December 20, 2015. REUTERS/Hasan Shaaban/File Photo
Hezbollah official Wafiq Safa (L) talks with Hezbollah parliament member Ali Ammar (R) as Druze Democratic Party chief Talal Arslan (2nd R) looks on after offering their condolences to Bassam Qantar (2nd L), the brother of Lebanese Hezbollah militant leader Samir Qantar who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Damascus early on Sunday, in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon December 20, 2015. REUTERS/Hasan Shaaban/File Photo
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Sources to Asharq Al-Awsat: Hezbollah’s Wafiq Safa is in Critical Condition

Hezbollah official Wafiq Safa (L) talks with Hezbollah parliament member Ali Ammar (R) as Druze Democratic Party chief Talal Arslan (2nd R) looks on after offering their condolences to Bassam Qantar (2nd L), the brother of Lebanese Hezbollah militant leader Samir Qantar who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Damascus early on Sunday, in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon December 20, 2015. REUTERS/Hasan Shaaban/File Photo
Hezbollah official Wafiq Safa (L) talks with Hezbollah parliament member Ali Ammar (R) as Druze Democratic Party chief Talal Arslan (2nd R) looks on after offering their condolences to Bassam Qantar (2nd L), the brother of Lebanese Hezbollah militant leader Samir Qantar who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Damascus early on Sunday, in Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon December 20, 2015. REUTERS/Hasan Shaaban/File Photo

A senior Lebanese security source told Asharq Al-Awsat that Wafiq Safa, Hezbollah’s Coordination and Liaison Officer, is in critical condition following a severe injury from an Israeli airstrike targeting his location in a densely populated residential area of Beirut.

The strike killed and injured dozens, but Lebanese security agencies have not confirmed whether Safa has died or remains alive.

Safa had long been the key link between Lebanese security and political forces and Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated by Israel last month.

According to the US State Department, Safa, sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2019, acted as a communication channel between Hezbollah and Lebanese security forces and headed Hezbollah’s security apparatus, reporting directly to Nasrallah.

Washington accuses Safa of exploiting Lebanese ports and border crossings for smuggling and undermining Lebanon’s security and economy.

Born in 1960 in Zebdine, southern Lebanon, Safa joined Hezbollah in 1984 and became head of the security committee in 1987. He played a pivotal role in the 2000 negotiations after three Israeli soldiers were captured, and in the 2008 prisoner exchange between Hezbollah and Israel. His prominence increased after Syrian forces withdrew from Lebanon in 2005, as he helped reorganize Hezbollah’s security.

In September 2021, Safa made headlines after threatening Judge Tarek Bitar, the lead investigator of the Beirut port explosion, with removal from the case.

Hezbollah opposition activist Ali Al-Amin described Safa as having significant connections to security agencies and political forces but noted that he is not one of Hezbollah’s top security officials, whose identities often remain undisclosed.