Israel's Gallant says it appears Nasrallah's replacement has been eliminated

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Tuesday that it appears that the replacement of slain Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has been eliminated.

He did not give further details.

Hashem Safieddine, a top Hezbollah official was widely expected to succeed Nasrallah.

"Hezbollah is an organization without a head. Nasrallah was eliminated, his replacement was probably also eliminated," Gallant told officers at the military's northern command centre, in a brief video segment distributed by the military. "There's no one to make decisions, no one to act," he said.

Safieddine had been running Hezbollah alongside its deputy secretary general Naim Qassem since Nasrallah's assassination and was expected to be formally elected as its next secretary general, although no official announcement had yet been made.

Qassem said in a televised statement on Tuesday that the group will elect a new secretary general and will announce it once it has been done.

(Reporting by James Mackenzie in Jerusalem and Ahmed Elimam in Dubai, Editing by Michael Georgy, William Maclean)