Hezbollah has denied that Hashem Safieddine has been chosen as the replacement for the terror group's former secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah, the terror group announced on its official Telegram channel on Sunday night.
The Hezbollah announcement came shortly after Sunday reports from sources within the Saudi news channels Al Arabiya and Al Hadath that Safieddine was officially named Nasrallah's successor.
There has been much speculation regarding who will replace Nasrallah in leading the Hezbollah terror group after he was killed on Friday in an Israeli airstrike. Furthermore, a spotlight has been placed on Safieddine, who has widely been regarded as the potential heir to the terror group.
Who is Hashem Safieddine?
Safieddine is a cousin of Nasrallah and, like him, a Muslim cleric. He wears a black turban denoting descent from Islam's Prophet Mohammed.
As head of the executive council, Safieddine's role has been to oversee Hezbollah's political affairs. He also sits on the Jihad Council, which manages the group's military operations.
The US State Department designated Safieddine a terrorist in 2017, and in June, he threatened a big escalation against Israel after the killing of another Hezbollah commander. "Let (the enemy) prepare himself to cry and wail," he said at the funeral.
Safieddine's public statements often reflect Hezbollah's terrorist stance and its alignment with the Palestinian cause.
At a recent event in Dahiyeh, Hezbollah's stronghold in Beirut's southern suburbs, he declared, "Our history, our guns, and our rockets are with you," in a show of solidarity with Palestinian fighters.
Hashem Safieddine has been chosen as the new secretary-general of the Hezbollah terror group, replacing Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike on Saturday, according to Al Arabiya and Al Hadath reports on Sunday.