Hashem Safieddine.. Hezbollah's second man and Nasrallah's potential successor

The names of the "most likely successors" have been circulating since Hezbollah announced this afternoon, Saturday, the martyrdom of its Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, in the Israeli raids that targeted the party's central command headquarters in the southern suburbs of Beirut yesterday, Friday. Perhaps the most prominent of them is Hashem Safieddine, who all reports indicate survived the occupation's strikes.

Aside from the resemblance in external appearance to Nasrallah, there are many similarities between the two men, especially in terms of direct, clear, and decisive speech, which comes from a high-ceilinged and resonant tone, “apart from the lisp of the letter ‘ra’ that unites them,” or in terms of popularity among the party’s supporters and even political circles.

Safieddine affirms in most of his positions that “Hezbollah exists to break and humiliate Israel,” and he also follows the principle that any targeting or killing does not stop the resistance or make it weaker, but rather makes it stronger “thanks to this blood, the steadfastness of the mujahideen, and the awareness of the people who protect the resistance.”

Hashem Safieddine.. The second man

Hashem Safieddine was born in 1964 in the village of Deir Qanoun al-Nahr, one of the villages of Tyre District in the South Governorate. He is considered one of the founders of Hezbollah in Lebanon in 1982 during the Israeli occupation. He received his education in Najaf, Iraq, and Qom, Iran.

Safieddine has reportedly headed Hezbollah’s Executive Council (which acts as Hezbollah’s government) since 1998, and is known as the party’s second-in-command after Nasrallah, to whom he is related, as he is his cousin, and the son-in-law of Qassem Soleimani, the former commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, who was killed in a US strike in Baghdad in 2020.

Hashem Safieddine supervised many of the party’s social and economic activities, most notably the reconstruction of Beirut’s southern suburbs after the July 2006 aggression. He is known for his familiarity with many internal and regional files, his closeness to Nasrallah, his long career alongside him, and his handling of many sensitive files related to the party, especially administration and finance.

In 2017, the US Treasury placed Safieddine on the terrorist list, and in 2018 imposed economic sanctions on him. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates also placed him on the terrorist list.

At the time, Saudi Arabia said that Safieddine was responsible for operations for Hezbollah across the Middle East, providing advice on carrying out “terrorist operations” and supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Safieddine always considered that US sanctions on Lebanon and countries that do not share Washington’s positions were a war no less important than a military war and “aimed at killing and destroying people.”

Hezbollah mourned its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah today, Saturday, pledging that "the resistance will continue its jihad in confronting the enemy, supporting Gaza and Palestine, and defending Lebanon and its steadfast and honorable people."

Hezbollah has not decided yet

Hezbollah sources told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that “the resistance will remain and will not die, and it will triumph over Israel, and will not defeat it no matter how long the time and confrontation lasts,” adding, “There is no doubt that it is difficult for anyone to fill the place of Nasrallah, this exceptional resistance leadership figure, who will be remembered in history, but the resistance will continue, based on his thought, principles and path, and will be inherited by generations, and martyrdom is a victory and pride, especially for the sake of the cause, and on the path to Jerusalem.”

He assumed the presidency of the Jihad Council (the highest body in the party’s military organization).

Source: Al-Araby Al-Jadeed + websites