Hezbollah dismisses rumors regarding the appointment of a successor to Hassan Nasrallah, reaffirming his leadership. Get the latest updates on the situation and the group’s stance.

Hezbollah has denied media reports that Lebanese cleric Hashem Saffiedine will replace the late Hassan Nasrallah as the group’s secretary-general.

On Sunday, Al Arabiya and Al Hadath media reported that Hezbollah’s central decision-making body, the Shura Council, had selected Saffiedine to replace Nasrallah, who was killed a few days ago in an Israeli attack on Beirut.

Saffiedine has served as chairman of Hezbollah’s Executive Council since 2001 and is widely seen as the “number two” within the group. The 60-year-old is also Nasrallah’s cousin and the son-in-law of former Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a US airstrike in Iraq in 2020.

READ ALSO: Hezbollah Confirms Death of Leader Hassan Nasrallah Following Israeli Strikes on Beirut

The New York Times reported, citing Israeli officials, that Safiedine could soon be appointed Hezbollah’s new secretary-general because he is one of the few remaining senior Hezbollah leaders not at the scene of the Israeli attack in Beirut.

The media also described him as a “key figure in the movement’s political and social activities” and that he had long been considered a possible successor to Nasrallah. Hezbollah, however, sought to downplay rumors about Safieddine’s appointment, quoting al-Manar as saying: “I am not a Muslim, I am a Muslim.” The group stressed that reliable information comes only from official statements.

Israeli officials had previously said recent airstrikes on Hezbollah had virtually wiped out the organization’s military leadership, claiming that a dozen senior officials had been killed in recent weeks.

Nasrallah’s death was seen as a particularly severe blow to Hezbollah. He had overseen its rise to power as the group’s leader for more than three decades, earning a reputation as Israel’s sworn enemy.