PNN – Martyr “Seyed Hashem Safiuddin” was practically Hezbollah’s number two man and one of the group’s senior officials, who, in addition to his responsibilities in the political-executive branch, was also active in the military branch.
Sayyed Hashem Safiuddin, a senior military commander and politician of Hezbollah in Lebanon, was born in 1964 in the town of Deir Qanun al-Nahr in southern Lebanon, into a well-known Shiite family. He was the cousin of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the martyred Secretary General of Hezbollah, and was with him throughout most of his life. Sayyed Hashem received his education in the seminaries of Iraq and Iran, and joined Hezbollah from its inception and assumed high positions.
The Safiuddin family is known in political and religious circles, as it has produced prominent Shiite scholars and politicians such as Muhammad Safiuddin, a member of parliament in the 1960s and 1970s. He married the daughter of Mohammad Ali al-Amin, a member of the Legislative Council of the Islamic Council of Shiites of Lebanon, in 1983. His brother, Abdullah Safi al-Din, is the representative of Lebanese Hezbollah in Iran.
Political and military experience in the resistance
Seyyed Hashem Safi al-Din traveled to Iran in the 1980s after Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah to study at the Qom Seminary, but after Nasrallah returned to Lebanon and founded Hezbollah, in 1994, he recalled Safi al-Din from the Qom Seminary to assign him political and military responsibilities. Seyyed Hashem Safi al-Din, along with Sheikh Nabil Qaouq, was of particular interest to Hajj Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah’s senior military commander.
After returning from Qom, he took over as head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council, which was akin to a government for Hezbollah. Thus, Safi al-Din was responsible for implementing internal policies and developing Hezbollah’s administrative structure.
Seyyed Hashem Safi al-Din was in charge of the reconstruction of the southern suburbs of Beirut after the 33-day war. During this war, the Zionist regime implemented a scorched earth policy in the area to compensate for its defeats and destroyed much of its infrastructure in its intensive airstrikes. However, in his speech in 2012, Safi al-Din said that the reconstruction of Lebanon after the war was a new victory over the Zionist regime.
Martyr Safi al-Din was practically Hezbollah’s number two man and one of the group’s senior officials, who, in addition to his responsibilities in the political-executive branch, was also active in the military branch. He was actively involved in guiding the party’s overall policies and, on many occasions, served as the Resistance’s spokesperson, explaining its positions and views in light of the various challenges facing the Lebanese and regional scene.
Martyr Safiuddin; Pioneer in supporting Palestine after October 7, 2023
In 2017, the United States placed Sayyed Hashem Safiuddin on the list of “terrorism suspects” and imposed sanctions against him in 2018. In the wake of the crimes of the Zionist regime after October 7, 2023, and while the whole world was waiting for someone to respond to the cries of the oppressed people of Gaza, Safiuddin was the first Hezbollah leader to take a stand in response to these attacks and crimes.
Safi al-Din said in a speech in the southern suburbs of Beirut on October 8, 2023: The nation is with you. Our hearts are with you, our minds are with you, our souls are with you. Our history, our weapons and our missiles are with you. And we are all with you. After this speech, the Lebanese Hezbollah operation on the Gaza support front against the Zionist regime began.
Positions and responsibilities
Martyr Safi al-Din was appointed head of Hezbollah in the Beirut region in 1994.
In 1995, he assumed the presidency of the Resistance Council responsible for the party’s military activities.
In 1998, he became a member of Hezbollah’s leadership council.
In 1998, he was promoted to head of the Executive Council and became Hezbollah’s number two man.
He also assumed the presidency of the Jihadi Council, the highest body in the party’s military structure.
In November 2010, he was appointed as the military commander of the Southern Region.
Martyrdom; just a few days after the death of a longtime friend
On October 8, 2024, the Zionist regime announced that it had assassinated Hashem Safi al-Din. The Zionist regime had been preventing relief and civil defense forces from reaching the site of the attack for a long time. Finally, on Wednesday, October 23, 2024, Hezbollah officially announced the martyrdom of Sayyed Hashem Safi al-Din.
Sheikh Naim Qassem, Secretary General of Hezbollah in Lebanon, announced in one of his speeches after assuming the position of Secretary General of Hezbollah in Lebanon that Sayyed Hashem Safi al-Din had been elected as Secretary General of Hezbollah in Lebanon before his assassination by the Zionist regime.
The assassination of Seyyed Hashem Safi al-Din was a desperate attempt by the Zionist regime to strike at the resistance, but this action will only be further evidence of the strength and continuity of this approach. Although Seyyed Hashem Safi al-Din ascended to God on the path of Quds after Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, the legacy of these two martyrs remains and their path will be a beacon for future generations and a strengthening of the resistance.