The Iran-backed Hezbollah on Saturday confirmed the death of its leader Hassan Nasrallah in Israeli airstrikes on Friday. Recently, Israel eliminated several functionaries of the militant group and now it faces concern of who will succeed Nasrallah.
According to several reports, Hashem Safieddine is considered a potential heir to Nasrallah. News agency Reuters citing a source within Hezbollah said that Safieddine survived the Israeli strikes.
Who is Hashem Safieddine
Hashem Safieddine is a cousin of the late leader Nasrallah and as the head of the executive council oversees Hezbollah’s political affairs.He is also a cleric who wears the black turban that signifies descent from Islam’s Prophet Mohammed. He also serves on the group’s Jihad Council.
Safieddine’s family ties and religious status as a descendant of Mohammed would all work in his favor as a potential successor, reported news agency Reuters.
In 2017, the US State Department designated him as a terrorist, and in June, he threatened major escalation against Israel following the death of another Hezbollah commander. At the funeral, he warned, “Let (the enemy) prepare himself to cry and wail.”
Safieddine’s public statements often reflect Hezbollah’s militant stance and its alignment with the Palestinian cause. At a recent event in Dahiyeh, Hezbollah’s stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs, he declared, “Our history, our guns and our rockets are with you,” in a show of solidarity with Palestinian fighters.
According to Philip Smyth, an expert on Iran-backed Shi-ite militias, said Nasrallah “started tailoring positions for him within a variety of different councils within Lebanese Hezbollah. Some of them were more opaque than others. They’ve had him come, go out and speak,”
He has also been outspoken in his criticism of US policy. In 2017, responding to American pressure on Hezbollah, he said, “This mentally impeded, crazy US administration headed by Trump will not be able to harm the resistance,” maintaining that such actions would only bolster Hezbollah’s determination.
Hassan Nasrallah joined the list of some of the important leaders and commanders Israel recently assassinated amid the conflicts that started on October 07, 2023, following a brutal attack by Hamas on Israel killing over a thousand people. Here are some of the other functionaries that were killed in recent months.
Ismail Haniyeh
The Hamas chief was assassinated in the early hours of July 31 in Iran. He was killed in a state guest house where he was staying while he was in the Iranian capital to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Earlier, on April 10, an Israeli air strike targeted the car carrying three of Haniyeh’s sons – Hazem, Amir, and Mohammad – resulting in their deaths, along with four of Haniyeh’s grandchildren, including three girls and a boy, according to Hamas.
Ibrahim Qubaisi
Hezbollah commander Qubaisi was killed in an airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut on September 24 killed Qubaisi.
Ibrahim Aqil
Hezbollah’s operations commander was killed by an Israeli strike in Beirut’s southern suburbs on September 20. He was also a member of Hezbollah’s top military body, the Jihad Council. The United States accused him of a role in the Beirut truck bombings that struck the American embassy in April 1983, which killed 63 people, and a US Marine barracks six months later that killed 241 people.
Ahmed Wahbi
Ahmed Wahbi, a top commander who oversaw the military operations of the Radwan special forces in the Gaza war was killed in a strike along with Ibrahim Aqil on September 20.
Fuad Shukr
Fuad Shukr was killed in an Israeli strike at Lebanon’s capital on July 30. The Israeli military as the right-hand man of Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
Mohammed Deif
Hamas’ Deif was killed after Israel conducted an operation in Khan Younis of Gaza on July 13, according to Israel. He was believed to be one of the masterminds of Hamas’ October 7 attack. However, Hamas has not confirmed his death.
Mohammed Nasser
Mohammed Nasser was killed in an Israeli airstrike on July 3. He was responsible for a section of Hezbollah’s operations at the frontier, according to senior security sources in Lebanon.