Who is Hashem Safieddine, Hezbollah’s possible new leader after Hassan Nasrallah killed in Israeli airstrike?

The killing of longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Israeli airstrikes on a Beirut suburb this week has brought up questions about his possible heir, Hashem Safieddine.

Nasrallah led the Iran-backed terror group for 32 years. He was killed alongside other Hezbollah higher-ups when an Israeli strike leveled six buildings on Friday, Israel said.

Safieddine, Nasrallah’s maternal cousin, heads Hezbollah’s executive council, which oversees the terror group’s political affairs.

He also sits on Hezbollah’s Jihad Council, which manages military operations.

Like Nasrallah, Safieddine wears a black turban that identifies him as a descendant of the prophet Mohammed.

He was designated as a terrorist by the US State Department in 2017. He made headlines in the wake of Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, when he confirmed Hezbollah’s support for the group.

“Our hearts are with you. Our minds are with you. Our souls are with you. Our history and guns and our rockets are with you,” Safieddine told Hamas one day after the deadly incursion, which marked the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

In June, Safieddine threatened a massive escalation against Israel after a senior Hezbollah commander was killed in a strike on a central command center in southern Lebanon.

Nasrallah seemed to have been grooming Safieddine over the years, experts said.

Nasrallah “started tailoring positions for him within a variety of different councils within Lebanese Hezbollah,” said Phillip Smyth, an expert on Iran-backed Shiite militias.

“Some of them were more opaque than others. They’ve had him come, go out and speak.”

As Hezbollah works to reorganize its leadership in the coming days, Safieddine’s family relationship and physical resemblance to Nasrallah could also count in his favor.

With Post wires