An Iranian general who promised to “see the dead bodies of Americans all over the Middle East” is missing after an Israeli attack in Lebanon that may have also killed the presumed new Hezbollah chief.
The whereabouts of Brig. Gen. Esmail Qaani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, remains a mystery after Friday’s airstrike in Beirut, the New York Times reported. Some Arab and Israeli outlets say he is dead, while others report him as wounded.
Lebanese security forces also have lost contact with Hashem Safieddine, a top local Hezbollah official and the presumed successor to the terror group’s recently slain leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
Qaani was last seen in Beirut, where he was sent to help the terror group recover and re-group after a series of attacks by Israel, according to unnamed members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to the Times.
He has not been seen publicly since Friday’s attack, and he was notably absent from a memorial service for Nasrallah, Iranian media said. By Saturday, some Israeli and Arab outlets were reporting that he had been wounded or killed, but top Iranian brass have remained tight-lipped on the matter.
An Iranian soldier told the Times that confusion about Qaani’s fate is causing panic among the troops.
Iran’s Quds Force provides support for the anti-Israel “axis of resistance,” which consists of regional terror organizations including the Palestinian Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Friday’s Israeli airstrike was one in a wave of attacks in Lebanon since Iran fired more than 200 ballistic missiles at the Jewish state as payback for Nasrallah’s assassination.
As Hezbollah forces scramble to regroup, Israel continues to pummel them: On Sunday, it launched the largest recent bombardment yet on targets in the outskirts of Beirut, Reuters reported, lighting up the night with flashes visible at least 20 miles away.
Qaani became the successor to former Quds boss Qassem Soleimani, who the US assassinated in 2020. After taking up Soleimani’s mantle, he has reportedly been dogged in his efforts to supply, train and coordinate regional terror groups.
“We tell everyone, be patient and see the dead bodies of Americans all over the Middle East,” he once said on Al Jazeera.
