Beirut: The Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah on Saturday announced that its leader, Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah was “martyred in a criminal attack” on the southern suburbs of Beirut, late Friday evening. “Our leadership is committed to continuing the jihad against the enemy and supporting Gaza and defending Lebanon and its steadfast nation,” the organisation said in a statement, news agency IANS reported. Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah’s death creates a significant void within the organization, which has already experienced substantial leadership losses following months of targeted Israeli strikes against its ranks.
However, Nasrallah’s death signifies the loss of not just a figurehead but also the individual who represented the Lebanese Shia movement for both its supporters and the broader region. In 1992, Nasrallah ascended to the role of secretary-general of Hezbollah while still in his 30s. Finding a successor of comparable stature will be a challenge for Hezbollah as it prepares for ongoing Israeli assaults and the potential for a ground invasion of southern Lebanon.
Following Hassan Nasrallah’s death, these two leaders are possible contenders for Hezbollah’s next chief. Read here.
Hashem Safieddine
According to a report in Al Jazeera, the head of Hezbollah’s executive council and a cousin of Nasrallah, Safieddine is widely regarded as the frontrunner to become the movement’s next secretary-general. Safieddine, who hails from the southern village of Deir Qanoun en-Nahr near Tyre, was born in 1964 into a Shia family. He pursued his theological studies alongside Nasrallah at two key centers of Shia religious education: Najaf in Iraq and Qom in Iran. Both of them became involved with Hezbollah during the organization’s early development.
Safieddine has strong connections to Iran; his son, Redha, is married to the daughter of Qassem Soleimani, the prominent Iranian general who was killed in a U.S. strike in 2020.
Naim Qassem
At 71 years old, he serves as Hezbollah’s deputy secretary-general and is frequently referred to as the movement’s “number two.”
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