Hassan Nasrallah dead. Who will lead Hezbollah against an aggressive Israel?

The second-in-command of Hezbollah, Hashem Safieddine, is likely to succeed Nasrallah. However, some reports claimed that Safieddine was also killed in the Beirut airstrike.

In Short

• Hezbollah faces leadership crisis following death of Hassan Nasrallah
• Nasrallah's cousin Hashem Safieddine likely to head the Iran-backed outfit
• Safieddine oversees Hezbollah's political affairs

The death of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah marks a pivotal moment for the Lebanese terror group that has seen most of its top leadership wiped out by Israel. With Hezbollah's operations chief Ibrahim Aqil and top commander Fuad Shukr also bumped off, Nasrallah's cousin Hashem Safieddine is likely to head the Iran-backed outfit, according to a report in The Times of Israel.

Amid reports that Safieddine was also among those killed in the attack on Hezbollah headquarters in Beirut, Reuters quoted a source in the outfit as saying that he was alive.

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.

WHO IS HASHEM SAFIEDDINE?

Like Nasrallah, Safieddine is a cleric who wears a black turban and bears physical resemblance to the former Hezbollah chief. These qualities are likely to go in his favour in identifying Nasrallah's successor.

Apart from garnering support from Hezbollah members, the new leader will also have to find acceptance from the outfit's backers in Iran. Iran provides most of Hezbollah's funding, training and weapons.

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. He started heading Hezbollah's executive council just two years after Nasrallah took over the outfit's leadership.

Over the next 30 years, Safieddine oversaw Hezbollah's civilian operations, including its education system and finances. Nasrallah, meanwhile, looked after strategic matters.

Safieddine was also blacklisted by Saudi Arabia in 2017 for working in the interest of Hezbollah and supporting the Syrian regime.

In 2020, his son, Rida, married Zainab, the daughter of Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US airstrike in Baghdad the same year. As Nasrallah went into hiding following Israeli assassination attempts in 2006, Safieddine attended events and funerals of Hezbollah members killed in Lebanon.