Nasrallah’s successor reportedly assassinated

Hashem Safi al-Din, who reportedly succeeded Hassan Nasrallah as the leader of Hezbollah, has been killed in an Israeli attack on Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh on Friday, according to Al-Arabiya and other Arab media outlets. 

However, these reports remain unconfirmed by official sources. The attack allegedly also claimed the lives of Iranian Revolutionary Guard officers, the same sources reported.

In a significant development, Hezbollah has lost contact with a possible successor to its late leader Hassan Nasrallah, three Lebanese security sources told Reuters. Hezbollah has not heard from Hashem Safieddine since an Israeli strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs targeted him on Friday, the source told Reuters Saturday. Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) carried out airstrikes in Beirut targeting senior Hezbollah leader Hashem Safieddine.

Multiple reports claimed that Hashem Safieddine was the target of the strike when he was attending a meeting with other senior Hezbollah leaders in an underground bunker. Until the death of Nasrallah, Safieddine served as head of Hezbollah’s executive council and was potentially seen as one of the most likely heirs to the organization’s highest-ranking seat.

Who is Hashem Safieddine?

As head of the executive council, Safieddine oversees Hezbollah’s political affairs. Safieddine is a maternal cousin of Nasrallah and shares strong ties with Iranian leadership. Both Nasrallah and Safieddine studied in Iran together in the early 1980s. 

As head of Hezbollah’s executive council, he was considered one of the likely successors to Nasrallah. Hezbollah has not yet named a successor to Nasrallah.

Safieddine played a significant role in Hezbollah’s political activities. He had previously spoken about the strong relationship between Hezbollah and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), particularly with Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a US airstrike in Baghdad in 2020.

Safieddine's son is married to Soleimani’s daughter. Born in 1964 in the southern Lebanese village of Deir Qanoun En Nahr, Safieddine, like Nasrallah, wears a black turban to signify his descent from Prophet Mohammed.

Hashem Safieddine- A prominent figure in Hezbollah

At 60, he has been a prominent figure in Hezbollah’s political scene, especially over the past year. Safieddine was one of Hezbollah's earliest members, according to a report in NYT. He joined Hezbollah after the Shiite Muslim group was formed in the 1980s, with Iranian guidance, during Lebanon's long civil war.

He rose quickly up its ranks alongside Nasrallah, playing many roles and serving as a political, spiritual and cultural leader, as well as leading the group's military activities at one point.

In 1995, he was promoted to Hezbollah's highest council, its governing Consultative Assembly, and was soon after appointed as head of the group's Jihadi Council, which controls Hezbollah's military activities, as per reports.

Just three years later, in 1998, Safieddine was elected to lead the party's Executive Council, a position that was also twice held by Nasrallah, including before his appointment as Hezbollah's secretary-general in 1992, the report said.

At a funeral ceremony in May for a Hezbollah member, Safieddine declared the group's resilience and commitment to the Palestinian cause, stating, "We will not back down until the end."

Safieddine has been critical of US policy, accusing Washington of "interfering" in Lebanese politics and "sabotaging" nations in the region, mentioning Iraq and Afghanistan as examples. The US designated Hezbollah a foreign terrorist organization in 1997 and designated Safieddine a foreign terrorist in 2017.