Who is Hashem Safieddine, Leading Candidate to Succeed Nasrallah?https://english.aawsat.com/features/5065514-who-hashem-safieddine-leading-candidate-succeed-nasrallah
Who is Hashem Safieddine, Leading Candidate to Succeed Nasrallah?
Hashem Safieddine in a photo from 2015 (AFP)
Unconfirmed reports suggest that Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary-General of Lebanon's Hezbollah, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut on Friday, raising questions about who might succeed him after 32 years in power.
While the process for selecting leaders in groups like Hezbollah is often secretive, Hashem Safieddine emerges as a top contender if the rumors are confirmed.
A cousin of Nasrallah and the father of the son-in-law of Qassem Soleimani, the former commander of Iran’s Quds Force, Safieddine has been groomed for leadership since 1994.
Safieddine closely resembles Nasrallah in appearance and mannerisms. He moved from Qom to Beirut to lead Hezbollah’s Executive Council, which functions as the party’s governing body, with oversight from the late security chief Imad Mughniyeh.
For three decades, Safieddine has been a key player in Hezbollah, managing day-to-day operations and financial affairs while leaving strategic decisions to Nasrallah.
Safieddine, who has been on the US terrorism list since 2017, is a prominent Hezbollah official known for his close connections to both the military and executive branches of the group.
His relationships within the party have made him a significant player in its leadership.
Safieddine’s Strong Ties to Iran Enhance Leadership Chances
Safieddine has strong connections with Tehran, having spent years studying at the Qom seminary before being called to Beirut by Nasrallah to take on key roles in Hezbollah.
In 2020, his son, Rida, married Zainab Soleimani, the daughter of Soleimani, who was killed in a US airstrike in Baghdad that same year.
Sixteen years ago, an Iranian newspaper suggested Safieddine as a potential successor to Nasrallah, but sources indicate that the decision was made much earlier.
A former senior Hezbollah leader revealed that Safieddine was chosen about two years after Nasrallah became Secretary-General in 1992, following the assassination of Abbas al-Mousawi by Israel.
Safieddine was urgently summoned from Qom to Beirut in 1994 to take a position that allowed him to control the party’s financial and administrative operations.
His chances of succeeding Nasrallah are strengthened by their similar paths within the party, although Nasrallah, who is only two years older, carries a more significant political presence.
Safieddine has remained largely unknown in Lebanese politics until recently.
Due to heightened security around Nasrallah, he has stepped into the spotlight at party events, especially during funerals for members killed in Lebanon or while fighting alongside President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria and other areas supporting Iran’s regional agenda.
Limited information is available about Safieddine. He was born in 1964 in Deir Qanun al-Nahr, a town in southern Lebanon, to a family with a strong social presence.
His family includes Mohammad Safieddine, a prominent MP in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as several well-known religious figures.
Ukraine Hasn’t Held Elections since Russia’s Full-scale Invasion. Here’s Whyhttps://english.aawsat.com/features/5218281-ukraine-hasn%E2%80%99t-held-elections-russia%E2%80%99s-full-scale-invasion-here%E2%80%99s-why
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to press before his meeting with President of Cyprus in Kyiv on December 4, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Genya SAVILOV / AFP)
Ukraine Hasn’t Held Elections since Russia’s Full-scale Invasion. Here’s Why
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky speaks to press before his meeting with President of Cyprus in Kyiv on December 4, 2025, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Genya SAVILOV / AFP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected suggestions that he is using the war as an excuse to cling to power, saying he is ready to hold elections if the US and other allies will help ensure the security of the poll and if the country's electoral law can be altered.
Zelenskyy’s five-year term was scheduled to end in May 2024, but elections were legally put off due to Russia’s full-scale invasion. That has become a source of tension with US President Donald Trump, who has criticized the delay as he pushes Zelenskyy to accept his proposals for ending the war.
Zelenskyy responded to that criticism on Tuesday, saying he was ready for elections.
“Moreover, I am now asking — and I am stating this openly — for the United States, possibly together with our European colleagues, to help me ensure security for holding elections,” he told reporters on WhatsApp. “And then, within the next 60–90 days, Ukraine will be ready to hold them.”
Until now, Zelenskyy has declined to hold an election until a ceasefire is declared, in line with Ukrainian law that prevents a poll from being held when martial law is in effect. Ukrainians largely support that decision.
Here is a look at why Ukraine has not been able to hold elections so far:
A wartime election would be illegal
Ukraine has been under martial law since February 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion. The country’s constitution provides for martial law in wartime, and a separate law bars the holding of elections while it remains in force.
Beyond being illegal, any nationwide vote would pose serious security risks as Russia bombs Ukrainian cities with missiles and drones. With roughly one-fifth of the country under Russian occupation and millions of Ukrainians displaced abroad, organizing a nationwide ballot is also widely seen as logistically impossible.
It would also be difficult to find a way for Ukrainian soldiers on the front line to cast their votes, The Associated Press said.
Although Zelenskyy’s term formally expired in May 2024, Ukraine's constitution allows him to legitimately remain in office until a newly elected president is sworn in.
What Trump said
In an interview with Politico published on Tuesday, Trump said it was time for Ukraine to hold elections.
“They’re using war not to hold an election, but, uh, I would think the Ukrainian people ... should have that choice. And maybe Zelenskyy would win. I don’t know who would win.
“But they haven’t had an election in a long time. You know, they talk about a democracy, but it gets to a point where it’s not a democracy anymore.”
Trump's comments on elections echo Moscow's stance. The Kremlin has used Zelenskyy’s remaining in power after his expired term as a tool to cast him as an illegitimate leader.
What Zelenskyy said Zelenskyy reiterated previous statements that the decision about when to hold elections was one for the Ukrainian people, not its international allies.
The first question, he said, is whether an election could be held securely while Ukraine is under attack from Russia. But in the event that the US and other allies can guarantee the security of the poll, Zelenskyy said he is asking lawmakers to propose legal changes that would allow elections to be held under martial law.
“I’ve heard it suggested that we’re clinging to power, or that I’m personally holding on to the president’s seat, that I’m clinging to it, and that this is supposedly why the war is not ending. This, frankly, is a completely absurd story.”
Zelenskyy has few political rivals
Holding elections in the middle of a war would also sow division in Ukrainian society at a time when the country should be united against Russia, Zelenskyy has said.
One potential candidate who could challenge Zelenskyy in an election is former army chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the current Ukrainian ambassador to Britain. Zaluzhnyi has denied plans to enter politics, though public opinion surveys show him as a potential Zelenskyy rival.
Petro Poroshenko also is a key political rival of Zelenskyy’s and the leader of the largest opposition party. He is unlikely to run again, analysts said, but his backing of a particular candidate would be consequential.
From Israeli-Held Zones in Gaza, Foes of Hamas Seek Lasting Role https://english.aawsat.com/features/5217917-israeli-held-zones-gaza-foes-hamas-seek-lasting-role%C2%A0
A drone view shows Palestinians walking past the rubble, following Israeli forces' withdrawal from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, October 11, 2025. (Reuters)
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From Israeli-Held Zones in Gaza, Foes of Hamas Seek Lasting Role
A drone view shows Palestinians walking past the rubble, following Israeli forces' withdrawal from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, October 11, 2025. (Reuters)
Groups operating from Israeli-held areas of Gaza say they will continue to fight Hamas despite the killing of their most prominent commander, reporting more recruits since an October ceasefire as they eye a role in the enclave's future.
The emergence of the groups, though they remain small and localized, has added to pressures on Hamas and could complicate efforts to stabilize and unify a divided Gaza shattered by two years of war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged Israeli backing for anti-Hamas groups in June, saying Israel had "activated" clans, though Israel has given little detail since then.
Last week, the man seen at the heart of efforts to establish anti-Hamas forces - Yasser Abu Shabab - was killed in southern Gaza's Rafah area. His group, the Popular Forces, said he died mediating a family feud, without saying who killed him. His deputy, Ghassan al-Dahini, has taken over and vowed to continue on the same path.
Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2007 and has so far refused to disarm under the ceasefire plan, has branded such groups collaborators - a view that Palestinian analysts say is broadly shared by the public. It moved swiftly against Palestinians who defied its control after the US-backed ceasefire took hold, killing dozens, including some it accused of working with Israel.
Nearly all Gaza's 2 million people live in Hamas-held areas, where the group has been reestablishing its grip and where four Hamas sources said it continues to command thousands of men despite suffering heavy blows during the war.
But Israel still holds over half of Gaza - areas where Hamas' foes operate beyond its reach. With President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza moving slowly, there is no immediate prospect of further Israeli withdrawals.
Three Egyptian security and military sources said Israel-backed groups had increased their activities since the ceasefire, and estimated they now had 1,000 fighters, adding 400 since the truce.
Egypt, which borders Gaza, has been closely involved in negotiations over the conflict. The sources expected the groups to further step up their activities in the absence of a comprehensive deal on Gaza's future.
FOOTAGE SHOWS FIGHTERS ASSEMBLED
A diplomat who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity said the anti-Hamas groups lacked any popular constituency, but added that their emergence raised concerns for the enclave's stability, heightening risks of conflict among Palestinians.
Since Abu Shabab's death, his group and two others have posted videos showing dozens of fighters assembled, as commanders are heard praising him as a martyr and vowing to continue.
One video released on December 5 shows Dahini telling fighters Abu Shabab's death was a "grave loss" and adding that they would "continue on this path and move with the same strength and even more strength".
Reuters verified the location as Rafah Governorate - an area of Gaza where Israeli forces are still deployed - by analyzing the buildings, walls and trees in the footage which matched file and satellite imagery of the area.
On December 7, Dahini announced the execution in late November of two men he identified as Hamas fighters, saying they had killed a member of his group. A security official in a Hamas-led coalition of militant groups in Gaza said such actions did not "alter the realities on the ground".
Hussam Al-Astal, who heads another anti-Hamas faction based in the Khan Younis area, said he and Dahini had "agreed the war on terror will continue" during a visit to Abu Shabab's grave in the Rafah area. "Our project, new Gaza ... will move ahead," Al-Astal told Reuters by phone.
Al-Astal, speaking to Reuters in a separate call in late November, said his group has received arms, money and other support from international "friends" whom he declined to identify. He denied receiving Israeli military backing but acknowledged contacts with Israel over "the coordination of the entry of food and all the resources we need to survive".
He said he was speaking from inside Gaza, in the Israeli-controlled sector near the "yellow line" behind which Israel has withdrawn. Al-Astal said his group had added recruits since the truce and now had several hundred members including fighters and civilians. The Popular Forces has also grown, a source close to it said, without giving a figure.
Hamas police officers stand guard, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, October 11, 2025. (Reuters)
HAMAS: ABU SHABAB MET 'INEVITABLE FATE'
Israel says it aims to ensure that Hamas, which ignited the war with its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, is disarmed and has no future role governing Gaza.
In response to a request for comment, an Israeli government official said: "There is no shortage of Palestinians wishing and actively fighting to free themselves of the Hamas repression and tyranny."
The Popular Forces didn't respond to requests for comment sent via their Facebook page. It has previously denied receiving Israeli support.
Hamas said Abu Shabab's death was the "inevitable fate of all those who betrayed their people and homeland", while claiming no role in his killing.
The security official in the Hamas-led coalition said threats by its foes were "psychological warfare" orchestrated by Israel to "undermine internal stability".
Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said security forces would pursue collaborators "until this phenomenon is eradicated".
But they "are protected by the occupation army in the areas where these forces are present, which makes it difficult for the security apparatuses", he said, in comments to Reuters before Abu Shabab's death.
HOUSING COMPOUNDS PLANNED
As well as disarming Hamas, Trump's plan foresees the establishment of a transitional authority, the deployment of a multinational force, and reconstruction.
But with no clarity on next steps, there is a risk of de facto partition between an inland sector controlled by Israel where few people now remain, and a sector along the coast now crowded with displaced people, much of it wasteland.
Touring Gaza on Sunday, Israeli military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said Israel had "control over extensive parts of the Gaza Strip and we will remain on those defense lines".
"The Yellow Line is a new border line — serving as a forward defensive line for our communities and a line of operational activity," he said.
Goals cited by anti-Hamas groups include establishing secure areas for displaced Gazans.
Hamas militants sit inside a vehicle as they escort members of the Red Cross towards an area within the so-called "yellow line" to which Israeli troops withdrew under the ceasefire, in Gaza City November 20, 2025. (Reuters)
In October, US Vice President JD Vance and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner said reconstruction funds could flow to the Israel-controlled area without waiting for the next stage of the plan to begin, with the idea of creating model zones for Gazans to live in.
Rafah is one of the first sites US officials have identified for such housing compounds, described as "Alternative Safe Communities," though no timeline has been set, according to two Israeli officials and three Western diplomats involved in post-war Gaza planning.
A US State Department spokesperson said the US was working with partners "to provide housing and other services to Gazans as quickly as possible".
The United States has not had any official contact with the anti-Hamas groups, "nor are we providing any funding or support", a US official said. "We are not going to be picking winners or losers in Gaza," the official said, adding: "Beyond Hamas having no future role, who will govern Gaza will be up to Gazans."
DESTABILIZING HAMAS CONTROL
Some Palestinians celebrated news of Abu Shabab's death in the nearby city of Khan Younis by distributing sweets, witnesses said.
Ghassan al-Khatib, a lecturer in international studies at Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank, said that while Hamas' popularity had declined because of the costs of the Gaza war, the anti-Hamas groups had no future because they are viewed by Palestinians as collaborators.
"Israel is using them only for tactical reasons, particularly to try to destabilize Hamas control," he said.
A spokesperson for President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Movement, which was driven from Gaza by Hamas and runs the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, said it rejected any armed groups backed by Israel, saying they had "nothing to do with our people and their cause".
What Syria’s Military Map Looks Like One Year After Assad Ousterhttps://english.aawsat.com/features/5217836-what-syria%E2%80%99s-military-map-looks-one-year-after-assad-ouster
What Syria’s Military Map Looks Like One Year After Assad Ouster
Hama residents set fire to a large banner of Bashar al Assad after armed factions seized the city last December (AFP)
Syria’s map of control has been shaken to its core since late 2024, when the Deterrence of Aggression offensive erupted and the Assad government fell, unleashing a series of security and military shifts that continued to redraw the country’s landscape through 2025.
But this fluid map is unlikely to hold, according to a study by the Syrian research group Jusoor Center for Studies. With regional and international actors working to head off the chaos and potential partition that threaten wider stability, any near term changes in who controls what are expected to come through political and security pressure rather than a return to large scale battles.
Mahmoud Eibo, one of three researchers who worked on a report on territorial influence in Syria in 2025, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the balance of control shifted sharply after the launch of the Deterrence of Aggression battles on November 27, 2024.
In less than two weeks, the Assad government lost the areas it had held since 2020, which covered more than half of the country.
Iranian withdrawal from Syrian territory
With the government’s fall, Iran’s presence also unraveled after more than a decade of entrenchment. Iran backed militias withdrew from rural Damascus, Homs, Aleppo, the southern provinces and from Al-Bukamal and Al-Mayadin.
Eibo said the militias “withdrew completely” after supply lines linking them to Lebanon and Iraq were severed, which effectively ended Iran’s influence and that of its militias across Syria.
The military role of Hezbollah also came to an end. The group had been one of Tehran’s key proxies in Syria since 2013, when its intervention began with the capture of Al-Qusayr.
But the turning point ended in the same town, after factions in the Deterrence of Aggression campaign seized Al-Qusayr in late 2024 and Hezbollah forces pulled out entirely.
The moment marked a definitive end to Hezbollah’s long military presence in Syria, after the group lost one of its most critical geographic links to Iran through Syrian territory.
Many areas that had been under the indirect influence of Hezbollah and Iran backed factions also slipped out of their orbit and reverted to the authority of the new Syrian state and its security and military institutions in the north.
The largest shift in influence last year came at the expense of the Syrian Democratic Forces, known as the SDF, Eibo said. The Dawn of Freedom operation ended the group’s presence in strategically important areas west of the Euphrates, beginning with the fall of Tel Rifaat and surrounding villages and extending toward Manbij, which cost the SDF one of its key cities in the region.
As a result, the SDF’s influence contracted in northern and eastern Aleppo countryside and the group withdrew eastward toward Raqqa, Hasakeh and parts of Deir Ezzor.
Sweida and the south
In the south, a limited but consequential development emerged in Sweida province. Local groups linked to Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hajri seized parts of the province after government forces withdrew, taking advantage of the security vacuum.
Although the area under their control is geographically small, it created a pocket of influence outside the new government’s authority and added another layer of instability to the southern provinces.
In parallel, Israel capitalized on the collapse of the southern front. It pushed beyond the buffer zone and established a presence in select points and strategic hilltops near the disengagement line.
Although the area is small, the symbolic and intelligence value of the chosen positions gives Israel leverage through monitoring and pressure, keeping the south open to volatility.
What the new map shows
Syria’s territorial map at the end of 2025 reflects a new political landscape dominated by four actors: the Syrian government, the SDF, the National Guard forces in Sweida and Israel, each wielding varying degrees of influence.
The Syrian government remains the primary authority. Beyond its broad political and social control, it holds 69.3% of the country’s territory, covering major cities, most administrative structures and key transport routes. It does not, however, control four provincial capitals: Quneitra, Sweida, Hasakeh and Raqqa.
The SDF controls 27.8% of Syria’s territory, concentrated in the north and east. The expanse is significant but uneven in terms of internal stability. The group faces serious political pressure tied to the implementation of the March 10, 2025 agreement, which is expected to reshape its relationship with the Syrian government.
The National Guard forces in Sweida, loyal to Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hajri, control 2.8% of the country. Their influence is small in size but distinct in nature. The significance lies in their location and in the direct support they receive from Israel, which positions them within a broader framework aimed at prolonging instability in the south.
Their presence overlaps with Israel’s incursion into Syrian territory, which covers 0.1% of the country. Despite the small footprint, the choice of elevated positions and small villages with high surveillance value reflects strategic intent.
Israel is not seeking territorial control, but rather an early warning line and a tighter grip over the border zone, while supporting an environment that prevents full stability in the south. This aligns with its indirect role in reinforcing the position of the Sweida National Guard forces.
Change driven by political pressure
According to Eibo, Syria’s map of control has undergone a fundamental rupture since late 2024, ending a geopolitical phase that had been largely settled since 2020.
The country has entered a more fluid and complex period marked by the retreat of traditional actors and the emergence of new, still unsettled zones of influence.
Although limited security and military shifts continued through 2025, it is unlikely that the current map will hold. Regional and international efforts are focused on avoiding chaos and partition.
Any upcoming change in territorial control will most likely be driven by political and security pressure and by reengineering spheres of influence rather than a return to large scale military confrontations.
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