Current news between Israel and Hezbollah: Israel launches new attacks on Lebanon; next potential Hezbollah leader said to have survived | World News

Hezbollah supporters are in disbelief over the assassination of their leader Hassan Nasrallah.

“He guided us. He was everything to us. We were under.”
his wings,” one supporter, Zahraa, said through tears at a school where she was expelled.

Hezbollah has not immediately said who might succeed Nasrallah, but senior official Hashem Safieddine has long been considered the heir to the throne.

A source told Reuters he survived the Israeli attacks, but the group has not commented on Safieddine’s status.

Safieddine, who oversees Hezbollah’s political affairs and sits on the group’s Jihad Council, is a cousin of Nasrallah.

Like him, he is a cleric who wears a black turban indicating his descent from the Islamic prophet Mohammed.

Nasrallah “began tailoring positions for him in various councils of Lebanese Hezbollah. Some of these were more opaque than others,” said Phillip Smyth, an expert who studies Iran-backed Shiite militias.

In June, he threatened escalation against Israel after another Hezbollah commander was killed.

His public statements often reflect Hezbollah’s militant stance. At a recent event in Dahiyeh, he declared: “Our history, our weapons and our missiles are with you,” in a sign of solidarity with Palestinian fighters.

The US State Department designated Safieddine as a terrorist in 2017.

He has been vocal in his criticism of US policy. In response to American pressure on Hezbollah, he declared in 2017: “This mentally retarded, crazy US government led by Trump will be unable to harm the resistance.”