BEIRUT: The potential successor to slain Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has been out of contact since Friday, a Lebanese security source said on Saturday, after an Israeli air strike thatisreported tohave targetedhim.

In its campaign against the Iran-backed Lebanese group, Israelcarried outalarge strike on Beirut`s southern suburbs late on Thursday that, according to Israeli officials, targeted Hashem Safieddine in an underground bunker.The Lebanese security source said that ongoing Israeli strikes on Beirut`s southern suburb known as Dahiyeh _ since Friday have kept rescue workers from scouring the site of the attack.

Hezbollah made no comment on Safieddine since the attack.

An Israeli spokesperson said the military was still assessing the Thursday night air strikes, whichhesaidtargetedHezbollah`s intelligence headquarters.

The loss of Nasrallah`s rumoured successor would be yet another blow to Hezbollah andIran.

Israel expanded its conflict in Lebanon on Saturday with its first strike in the northern city of Tripoli.

Israel has begun an intense bombing campaign in Lebanon and sent troops across the border in recent weeks after nearly a year of exchanging fire with Hezbollah. Fighting had previously been mostly limited to the Israel-Lebanon border area.

Israel says it aims to allow the safe return of tens of thousands of its citizens to their homes in north-ern Israel, bombarded by Hezbollah since Oct 8 last year.

The Israeli assault has killed hundreds of ordinary Lebanese, including rescue workers, and forced 1.2 million people _ almost a quarter of the population _ to leave their homes.

The Lebanese security official said Saturday`s strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in Tripoli killed a member of Hamas, his wife and two children. Media affiliated with the Palestinian group also said the strike killed a leader of its armed wing.-Reuters