Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine speaks during the funeral of Mohammed Nasser, a senior commander killed by an Israel strike in July. Mr Safieddine is expected to succeed Hassan Nasrallah as leader of the group. Reuters
Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine speaks during the funeral of Mohammed Nasser, a senior commander killed by an Israel strike in July. Mr Safieddine is expected to succeed Hassan Nasrallah as leader of the group. Reuters
Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine speaks during the funeral of Mohammed Nasser, a senior commander killed by an Israel strike in July. Mr Safieddine is expected to succeed Hassan Nasrallah as leader of the group. Reuters
Senior Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine speaks during the funeral of Mohammed Nasser, a senior commander killed by an Israel strike in July. Mr Safieddine is expected to succeed Hassan Nasrallah a

Hassan Nasrallah's successor will be taking over a much-diminished Hezbollah


Khaled Yacoub Oweis
  • English
  • Arabic

Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza

Long before Israel eliminated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, he had anointed a successor to take over the Iran-backed organisation in such a scenario, said Arab security sources and political analysts who have tracked the militant group for decades.

The sources told The National that Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Qassem nominally might take over as leader for an interim period before Nasrallah’s cousin, Hashem Safieddine, is named as his successor, although the secretive nature of the organisation and the sway of Iran over it could yield a different figure.

If Mr Safieddine, one of people closest to Nasrallah, is eventually chosen, it will be the first time a Hezbollah leader will have been succeeded by a close relative since it was founded by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Syrian intelligence in the 1980s.

“Nasrallah has created a successor in his image,” said one of the sources.

The two men, the sources say, worked closely to strengthen Hezbollah’s grip over Lebanon and expand it into a cross-border strike force in the past two decades. They also substantially augmented its financing through a multibillion-dollar-a-year drugs trade, with the Captagon amphetamine. The group has denied involvement in smuggling.

Little is known about Mr Safieddine, except that he has built a reputation as a day-to-day organisational and logistics figure. He studied Islamic jurisprudence in the Iranian city of Qom and his son is married to the daughter of Qassem Suleimani, the IRGC commander assassinated by US forces in Baghdad in 2020.

  • Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli air strike that targeted a neighborhood in Beirut’s southern suburb. AFP
    Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli air strike that targeted a neighborhood in Beirut’s southern suburb. AFP
  • People inspect damage at the site of an Israeli strike on central Beirut's Bachoura neighbourhood. Reuters
    People inspect damage at the site of an Israeli strike on central Beirut's Bachoura neighbourhood. Reuters
  • Smoke rises over Dahieh in Beirut's southern suburbs. Reuters
    Smoke rises over Dahieh in Beirut's southern suburbs. Reuters
  • A man walks amid the rubble of a building hit in an overnight Israeli air strike that targeted the neighbourhood of Moawwad in Beirut's southern suburbs. AFP
    A man walks amid the rubble of a building hit in an overnight Israeli air strike that targeted the neighbourhood of Moawwad in Beirut's southern suburbs. AFP
  • Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli air strike in Dahiyeh, Beirut. AP
    Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli air strike in Dahiyeh, Beirut. AP
  • Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli air strike in Dahiyeh, Beirut. AP
    Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli air strike in Dahiyeh, Beirut. AP
  • Smoke rises from a reported Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 27. Reuters
    Smoke rises from a reported Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 27. Reuters
  • Rescuers amid the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern neighbourhood of Haret Hreik. AFP
    Rescuers amid the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern neighbourhood of Haret Hreik. AFP
  • A building hit by an Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs. Reuters
    A building hit by an Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs. Reuters
  • An ambulances removed casualties from an Israeli strike on Dahieh, in southern Beirut. Israel's military claimed to have struck "the central headquarters of the Hezbollah". EPA
    An ambulances removed casualties from an Israeli strike on Dahieh, in southern Beirut. Israel's military claimed to have struck "the central headquarters of the Hezbollah". EPA
  • Smoke rises from an Israel strike in Dahieh, southern Beirut. Israel claimed it had struck Hezbollah headquarters 'intentionally built under residential buildings'. EPA
    Smoke rises from an Israel strike in Dahieh, southern Beirut. Israel claimed it had struck Hezbollah headquarters 'intentionally built under residential buildings'. EPA
  • A casualty is taken by ambulance from the Dahieh, southern Beirut, following an Israeli strike. EPA
    A casualty is taken by ambulance from the Dahieh, southern Beirut, following an Israeli strike. EPA
  • Members of the Lebanese military gather after an Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs. Reuters
    Members of the Lebanese military gather after an Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs. Reuters
  • The aftermath of an Israeli air strike in the southern Beirut neighbourhood of Haret Hreik. AFP
    The aftermath of an Israeli air strike in the southern Beirut neighbourhood of Haret Hreik. AFP

The organisation Mr Safieddine could be taking over is much diminished from the one he helped run before the Gaza war began almost a year ago.

Shortly after the war began, Hezbollah started attacking Israel with rockets, with the declared aim of relieving pressure on Hamas, another militant group supported by Iran. A series of Israeli strikes in Lebanon and Syria since October has wiped out many senior Hezbollah commanders and crucial field officers, as well as technicians who ran the groups communications network.

The Israeli onslaught shows no signs of relenting. On Sunday, Hezbollah confirmed the death of its southern front commander Ali Karaki, who had been leading the attacks on Israel since October. He was killed alongside Nasrallah in the Beirut air strike on Friday.

The continued elimination of the senior cadre has narrowed the choices left for succession.

Mr Safieddine's family ties to Nasrallah and Suleimani, who is still revered by Iran’s hardline IRGC, constitutes another advantage for him over potential rivals. Like Nasrallah, Mr Safieddine wears a black turban, symbolising descent from the Prophet Mohammed, giving him more ideological legitimacy than Mr Qassem and other senior figures who had not been killed by Israel, the sources say.

Aymen Abdel Nour, a veteran Syrian political commentator, said the Israeli strikes have not only killed operational commanders and Hezbollah technicians, but also figures in charge of maintaining ideological purity.

Any new leader, he said, would also have to deal with a Shiite constituency in Lebanon that increasingly doubts Hezbollah's acumen and regard for the safety of civilians, after a punishing Israeli retaliation that appeared to reveal that so much of Hezbollah's arsenal is hidden in their midst.

The Israeli attacks he said, could result in "the end of the Hezbollah era" and further "erosion of trust" between Hezbollah and its constituents, regardless of who replaces Nasrallah. The doubts also extend to Iran, which has done little to help its ally, Mr Abdel Nour added.

A member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet on Sunday said Iran should "think carefully" before "daring" to attack Israel, amid possible retaliation over the killing of Nasrallah.

"The entire Middle East, and Iran in particular, understands that Israel is not the country you want to mess with because the price you pay is very painful," Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar said.

Israel could force Nasrallah's eventual successor to review whether the group can still hold its confrontational stance towards its main foe while maintaining a regional reach in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, the source said.

"There are no answers currently to which direction what has remained of this party will take," a Lebanese source said. "We are still at the beginning. It could get much worse for Hezbollah."

About Proto21

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Based: Dubai
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Torbal Rayeh Wa Jayeh
Starring: Ali El Ghoureir, Khalil El Roumeithy, Mostafa Abo Seria
Stars: 3

ADCC AFC Women’s Champions League Group A fixtures

October 3: v Wuhan Jiangda Women’s FC
October 6: v Hyundai Steel Red Angels Women’s FC
October 9: v Sabah FA

TOURNAMENT INFO

Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier

Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November

UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi

Day 1 results:

Open Men (bonus points in brackets)
New Zealand 125 (1) beat UAE 111 (3)
India 111 (4) beat Singapore 75 (0)
South Africa 66 (2) beat Sri Lanka 57 (2)
Australia 126 (4) beat Malaysia -16 (0)

Open Women
New Zealand 64 (2) beat South Africa 57 (2)
England 69 (3) beat UAE 63 (1)
Australia 124 (4) beat UAE 23 (0)
New Zealand 74 (2) beat England 55 (2)

Ferrari 12Cilindri specs

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Countries recognising Palestine

France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra

 

MATCH INFO

What: India v Afghanistan, first Test
When: Starts Thursday
Where: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengalaru

The Vile

Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah

Director: Majid Al Ansari

Rating: 4/5

Roll of honour 2019-2020

Dubai Rugby Sevens
Winners: Dubai Hurricanes
Runners up: Bahrain

West Asia Premiership
Winners: Bahrain
Runners up: UAE Premiership

UAE Premiership
}Winners: Dubai Exiles
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes

UAE Division One
Winners: Abu Dhabi Saracens
Runners up: Dubai Hurricanes II

UAE Division Two
Winners: Barrelhouse
Runners up: RAK Rugby

Company%20Profile
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Company%20profile
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FIXTURES

All times UAE ( 4 GMT)

Friday
Saint-Etienne v Montpellier (10.45pm)

Saturday
Monaco v Caen (7pm)
Amiens v Bordeaux (10pm)
Angers v Toulouse (10pm)
Metz v Dijon (10pm)
Nantes v Guingamp (10pm)
Rennes v Lille (10pm)

Sunday
Nice v Strasbourg (5pm)
Troyes v Lyon (7pm)
Marseille v Paris Saint-Germain (11pm)

Zimbabwe v UAE, ODI series

All matches at the Harare Sports Club:

1st ODI, Wednesday, April 10

2nd ODI, Friday, April 12

3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14

4th ODI, Tuesday, April 16

UAE squad: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed

Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026

1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years

If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.

2. E-invoicing in the UAE

Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption. 

3. More tax audits

Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks. 

4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime

Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.

5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit

There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.

6. Further transfer pricing enforcement

Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes. 

7. Limited time periods for audits

Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion. 

8. Pillar 2 implementation 

Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.

9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services

Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations. 

10. Substance and CbC reporting focus

Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity. 

Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer

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Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.

Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.

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