Hezbollah confirmed on Wednesday the death of Hashem Safieddine, a day after Israel said he had been killed in an attack earlier this month in Beirut. The powerful cleric within the party was expected to succeed Hassan Nasrallah, one of the group’s founders, who was killed in an Israeli attack last month.
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In the Hezbollah statement, it is indicated that Safieddine had "joined his brother, our most noble and precious martyr", Nasrallah.
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Safieddine, who was around 60 years old, died in early October in a series of Israeli airstrikes in a southern suburb of Beirut that rocked much of the Lebanese capital as part of Israel's campaign against Hezbollah.
Who was Hashem Safieddine?
Hashem Safieddine was Nasrallah's maternal cousin and the head of Hezbollah's Executive Council. His appointment as the new leader of the organization was seen as a key step for the organization's continuity, as he was considered a political and military strategist close to Iran, which could ensure the group's alignment with Tehran's policies.
Safieddine's death comes at a delicate time for Hezbollah. In recent weeks, there has been a significant escalation since Israel carried out a series of attacks against high-ranking commanders of the organization and apparently detonated thousands of communication devices used by its members.
Hezbollah began launching rockets, missiles, and drones at Israel, prompting retaliatory attacks, following Hamas' attack on October 7, 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza.
Last month an open war began in Lebanon after Israeli air strikes that killed Nasrallah, and high-level Hezbollah commanders. Israeli ground forces invaded southern Lebanon this month.