Hashem Safieddine, whose death was announced by Hezbollah on Wednesday, briefly assisted manage Lebanon’s most potent military and political power whenever he served as the interim leader of Hezbollah following Nasrallah’s death, only to be hunted down by Israel.
His death therefore, symbolized Israels latest attack on Hezbollah, now a weakened group struggling with its biggest challenge since the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps formed the militant group in 1982 to end the Israeli occupation of Lebanon.
Safieddine is a relative of Nasrallah and took charge of the movement along with its deputy secretary general Naim Qassem in the absence of Nasrallah after he was assassinated by Israel through an air strike at Beirut’s southern suburbs on September 27.
A Lebanese security source said on Oct. 5 that Safieddine had been out of contact since the day before, after an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs late on Oct. 3 that Axios cited three Israeli officials as saying was directed at Safieddine.
Safieddine sat on the group’s Jihad Council – the group’s military operational committee. He also led its executive council, which is responsible for financial and administrative management for the Iran-backed group.
Safieddine was less familiar to the Israeli narrative than Nasrallah, but he was also perceived by Israel as the prime focus in the anti-Israeli terrorist organisation, an extension of Iran.
In this past year of war with Israel Safieddine has emerged as the most frequent Hezbollah spokesman, even replacing Nasrallah at funerals and other settings that this leader has increasingly shunned for security considerations.
He was the first Hezbollah official to go public after the group’s Palestinian ally Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, launching the Gaza war that pulled the Lebanese Shi’ite Islamist movement into a conflict with Israel.
With observers across the Middle East waiting to see what Hezbollah might do to help Hamas, Safieddine told a rally in Beirut’s southern suburbs the day after the attack that the group’s.