Nasrallah’s successor presumed dead

A Lebanese security said the chances of surviving such a strike were ‘almost zero’ and that Safieddine had been ‘unreachable’ since Friday.

An Israeli security source on Saturday told Sky News Arabic that Hashem Safieddine, the successor and cousin of dead Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, is presumed dead along with other terrorists following a strike on Friday night.

After a strike in Southern Beirut, Safieddine was assumed to have been severely injured in an area underground where it would have been difficult to escape alive.

A Lebanese security official told Sky News Arabic that the chances of surviving such a strike were  “almost zero” and that Safieddine had been “unreachable” since Friday.

The Saudi news organization Al Hadath reported that Safieddine was dead on Saturday morning, but other media outlets have not yet confirmed the report.

It has been reported that the strikes were intended to target a meeting between Safieddine and other Hezbollah terrorists.

The repeated strikes in the  Dahiyeh suburb of  Beirut have prevented rescue workers from examining the area and determining whether or not Safieddine has been killed.

Safieddine, a maternal cousin of Nasrallah, was a cleric who wore a black turban, indicating direct descent from Mohammed.

As head of the executive council, Safieddine was in charge of the political affairs of the terror group.

He also had a seat on the Judicial Council, which controls military operations.

The U.S. State Department designated Hashem Safieddine as a terrorist in 2017.

He had strong ties with Iran and completed religious studies in Qom.

Safieddine’s son is married to the daughter of IRGC General Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a 2020 airstrike in Iraq.

At the funeral of a Hezbollah commander, Safieddine threatened Israel when he exclaimed, “Let [the enemy] prepare himself to cry and wail.”

He has expressed strong solidarity with the Palestinian cause and its struggle with Israel.

At an event in Dahiyeh in Beirut, he said, “Our history, guns, and rockets are with you.”

In a speech in Beirut in July, Safieddine discussed Hezbollah’sHezbollah’s view of succession when he said, “In our resistance… when any leader is martyred, another takes up the flag and goes on with new, certain, strong determination.”