Hashem Safieddine to head Hezbollah after Hassan Nasrallah's death in airstrike

Hashem Safieddine is a cousin of Hassan Nasrallah, who served as chief of the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group for 32 years. 

In Short

• Safieddine oversees Hezbollah's political affairs and is on Jihad Council
• He was desginated as a terrorist by the US in 2017
• Reports earlier claimed Safieddine was killed in Israeli airstrikes on Beirut

Hashem Safieddine will replace Hassan Nasrallah as the chief of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah after the latter was eliminated by Israel in its airstrikes on Beirut. Safieddine is a cousin of Nasrallah, who served as the chief of the group for 32 years.

Reports surfaced on Saturday, stating that Safieddine had also been killed in Israel's bombardment in Lebanon. However, Reuters quoted a source in the outfit as saying that he was alive.

He bears physical resemblance to Nasrallah and joined the group along with his cousin in its early days. Born in 1964 in Deir Qanun al-Nahr in southern Lebanon, Safieddine has been designated as Nasrallah's successor since the 1990s when he was called back to Beirut from Iran, where he was pursuing his studies.

Safieddine, who was designated a terrorist by the United States in 2017, oversees Hezbollah's political affairs and is a member of the group's Jihad Council. He also has ties to Iran's regime as the father-in-law of Zeinab Soleimani, the daughter of slain Iranian military general Qassem Soleimani. He was blacklisted by Saudi Arabia in the same year for supporting the Syrian regime.

Celebrations broke out in Syria after the news of Nasrallah's death surfaced. Hezbollah is seen as an enemy by the people as the militant group has helped President Bashar al-Assad suppress the Syrian revolution.

As head of the executive council, Safieddine oversees Hezbollah’s political affairs. He also sits on the Jihad Council, which manages the group’s military operations. In the last 30 years, he has overseen Hezbollah's civilian operations, including its education system and finances. Nasrallah, meanwhile, looked after the group's strategic matters.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that he gave the order to eliminate Nasrallah, adding that his death became an "essential condition" for Israel to achieve its war goals. He also called Nasrallah's death as a "historical turning point".

"Hassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorize the world," Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said.

Notably, the IDF has claimed to have eleminiated another top Hezbollah leader. The IDF said that Hassan Khalil Yassin, who headed a unit in Hezbollah’s intelligence division that was tasked with locating Israeli military and civilian sites in Israel to be targeted, was also eliminated.