They already nailed this guy a bit back – I was confused for a sec, thought I recognized his face from previous coverage. The article is just saying that the IDF is confirming that an earlier airstrike that had targeted him did, in fact, kill him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_2024_Dahieh_airstrike

October 2024 Dahieh airstrike

On the night of 3 October 2024, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out an airstrike on an underground bunker in Dahieh, a predominantly Shia Muslim suburb in the south of Beirut, Lebanon, where Hezbollah leaders, including Hashem Safieddine, had convened in the headquarters of Hezbollah’s Intelligence Branch.[1][2]

It sounds like both Lebanon and Israel had suspected that he was dead prior to this point, just weren’t certain:

Fate of Hashem Safieddine

According to the Israeli Channel 12, Israeli security officials were “increasingly confident” that Safieddine had been killed in the attack.[3]

On 5 October, a Lebanese security source reported that Hezbollah lost contact with Safieddine, and that Hezbollah has not heard from him since the airstrike.[9][10]

Al Arabiya and Al Hadath reported that Israel confirmed the assassination of Hashem Safieddine and all Hezbollah leaders that were with him.[11] On 8 October, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated that Safieddine was likely “eliminated”. The claim was later repeated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.[12][13][14] On 22 October, the IDF formally announced his killing along with Hussein Hazima and other senior Hezbollah members.[15][16]