The killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike in a Beirut suburb has put the spotlight on the man widely considered his successor, Hashem Saffieddine.
The Iran-backed group confirmed that Nasrallah, who led the group for 32 years, was killed in Friday’s attack. The group is now facing the challenge of choosing a new leader after suffering the biggest blow in its 42-year-old history.
Here are some facts about Saffieddin, who a source in the group said survived the Israeli attacks.
- As head of the Executive Council, Saffieddin oversees Hezbollah’s political affairs. He also sits on the Jihad Council, which manages the group’s military operations.
- Saffieddin is Nasrallah’s cousin and, like him, is a cleric who wears a black turban signifying descent from Islam’s Prophet Mohammed.
- The US State Department designated him a terrorist in 2017 and in June he threatened a large-scale insurgency against Israel after the killing of another Hezbollah commander. “Let (the enemy) prepare themselves to weep and wail,” he said at the funeral.
- Saffiedine’s public statements often reflect Hezbollah’s extremist stance and its association with the Palestinian cause.
- At a recent event in Dahiyah, a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs, he showed solidarity with Palestinian fighters, declaring, “Our history, our guns and our rockets are with you.”
- Philip Smith, an expert who has studied Iran-backing, said, “Nasrallah began to prepare positions for himself on various councils within Lebanese Hezbollah. Some of them were more opaque than others. They gave him the ability to come in, go out, and speak. Said for.” Shi-it militia.
- Saffieddine’s family connections and physical resemblance to Nasrallah, as well as his religious status as a descendant of Mohammed, would all count in his favor.
- He has also been vocal in his criticism of US policy. In response to US pressure on Hezbollah, he said in 2017, “This mentally challenged, paranoid US administration led by Trump will not be able to harm the resistance,” stressing that such actions would only strengthen Hezbollah’s resolve. Will do.
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