Israel's attack on Beirut, the head of Iran's Quds Force is not found

Brigadier General Ismail Kani, head of Iran's elite Quds Force, has been out of touch since last week's Israeli attack on Beirut. He cannot be found. He went to Lebanon after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was killed.

He visited Lebanon after Hezbollah leader Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike last month.

After traveling to Lebanon, Kani stayed in a southern suburb of Beirut, known as Dahiyeh, an official said. Last week, Israel reportedly targeted senior Hezbollah leader Hashem Safiuddin. However, the official said, he was not meeting Safiuddin there.

A Hezbollah official said Israel was not allowing the search for Safiuddin to proceed after a bomb attack in the southern suburbs of Beirut last Thursday. Officials said Hezbollah will only announce what happened to Safiuddin once the investigation is over.

Basically, Safiuddin is seen as a possible successor of Hassan Nasrallah. Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli attack on September 27.

Iran and Hezbollah have not been able to contact Quds Force chief Ismail Qani, the Iranian official said. Israel struck multiple targets in Dahiyeh during an operation against the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah.

A second Iranian official also said Ismail Kani went to Lebanon after Nasrallah's assassination and that Iranian authorities have not been able to contact him since the attack against Safiuddin.

On the other hand, when asked about reports that Kani may have been killed in an Israeli attack in Beirut, Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said the results of the attack are still being assessed.
Tattini said Israel attacked Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters in Beirut late last week. "When we have more concrete results of that attack, we will announce it," he said in a briefing with reporters. There are a lot of questions about who was there and who wasn't."

Incidentally, Ismail Qani was appointed as the new commander of Iran's elite Quds Force after the death of General Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike in Iraq.

Originally, before coming to this position, he was a long-time comrade of commander Qasem Soleimani and deputy of the Quds Force. In addition, Ismail Qani reiterated his pledge to take "extreme revenge" for the killing of Soleimani upon his appointment as commander.