Israel confirms the death of Hachem Safieddine, expected successor to Hassan Nasrallah at the head of Hezbollah

It had been three weeks since his death was mentioned on social networks. It was finally confirmed this Tuesday. Hachem Safieddine, expected successor to Hassan Nasrallah at the head of Lebanese Hezbollah, was eliminated at the beginning of October in an Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut, the Israeli army confirmed this Tuesday evening.

“We can now confirm that during a strike approximately three weeks ago, Hachem Safieddine, head of the Executive Council of the terrorist organization Hezbollah, was killed” in the southern suburbs of Beirut, the army said in a statement. press release. Hezbollah has not confirmed the death of Hachem Safieddine at this stage.

On the night of October 3 to 4, a series of powerful strikes shook the southern suburbs of Beirut, Hezbollah stronghold in the Lebanese capital. Their power was immediately reminiscent of those who killed the former leader of the Islamist movement on September 27. The next day, several media outlets claimed that Israeli warplanes were targeting an underground bunker where senior leaders of the Shiite militia, including Safieddine, were supposed to meet.

Contact with him had since been lost, a leader of the pro-Iranian movement told AFP one day after these strikes. “We do not know if he was present at the location targeted by the raids,” he said. A second source close to the party confirmed this information: “The party is trying to reach the headquarters which was targeted underground, but Israel is systematically carrying out new raids to try to hinder any efforts by the rescuers. »

The face of the party in many events

Distant relative of Hassan Nasrallah, with whom the resemblance is striking, Hachem Safieddine was, at 64 years old, “the most likely candidate” to succeed him at the head of the Shiite movement financed and armed by Iran, according to a close source of movement. Head of the Executive Council of Hezbollah, he was an eminent member and wore, like Nasrallah, the black turban of the Sayyed, the descendants of the prophet Mohammed, to whom he claimed his affiliation. He was designated a “terrorist” by the US State Department in 2017 and by Saudi Arabia.

“In our resistance, (…) when a commander becomes a martyr, another takes up the banner (…) with strength and determination,” he declared in early July during the funeral of Commander Mohammed Nasser, killed in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon. After the death of Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah number 2 Naïm Qassem automatically took charge of the movement, and announced that a successor would be designated as soon as possible.