Safieddine (sometimes spelled Safi al-Din) is a cousin of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and has been pointed out as a likely successor to him. According to Israeli media, Safieddine was the target of one of the many attacks on Lebanon's capital Beirut on Friday and has since been "unreachable".
Netanyahu does not mention Safieddine by name in his video message, but in Israeli media, there is no doubt that it is he who is referred to.
A spokesperson for the Israeli military, Daniel Hagari, refuses to confirm that Safieddine has been killed, writes The Times of Israel.
"Room for chaos and war"
Netanyahu says in the video that Israel killed Nasrallah's successor and "the successor's successor" and urged citizens to "free themselves from Hezbollah to end the war".
Hassan Nasrallah was killed in Israel's massive bombing raids in Beirut at the end of September.
Rouzbeh Parsi, program manager at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs' Middle East and North Africa program, says it is remarkable that Israel has been able to locate the next person in Hezbollah's leadership group so quickly.
What it means for who will become Hezbollah's successor is harder to know. It gives them an additional motive to continue their attacks and show that they are still relevant.
On a par with Gaza
In the speech, Netanyahu warns Lebanon's population that "destruction and suffering" on a par with Gaza awaits if the country does not free itself from Hezbollah.
The Israeli warfare in Lebanon already resembles Gaza with massive bombardment – which drives people away in waves, according to Parsi.
It has also been the goal, to depopulate and make it difficult for anyone to hide in southern Lebanon and at the same time put pressure on the rest of Lebanon by having a million internal refugees.
That he (Netanyahu) says it openly shows what kind of carte blanche he thinks he has.
Another leader killed
Earlier on Tuesday, Israel claimed to have killed another Hezbollah leader: Suhail Hussein Husseini, the highest commander at the Iran-backed Shia militia's headquarters in Beirut.
According to Israel, Husseini had a prominent role in planning attacks against Israel and coordinating arms transfers between the movement and Iran.
In a televised speech, Hezbollah's second-in-command Naim Qassem claimed that the Iran-backed movement's capacity is "intact" despite the recent weeks' Israeli attacks. He also claimed that the Shia militia supports Lebanese efforts to reach a ceasefire with Israel.
Hezbollah has not commented on any reports about Safieddine.
On Tuesday, Hezbollah also fired over 100 rockets in just over an hour towards Haifa, Israel's third-largest city. Most of the rockets were shot down.
The same morning, the Israeli military announced that another brigade had crossed the border into Lebanon. Thus, four Israeli brigades are now part of the growing ground invasion, writes Haaretz.
