Wafic Safa, in charge of Hezbollah's liaison and coordination unit. (Credit: Al-Manar website)
Did Wafic Safa recently visit the Rawdat al-Shahidain cemetery in Beirut's southern suburbs, as suggested by photos that circulated on social networks this week?
Two widely shared photos of the head of Hezbollah's Liaison and Coordination Unit, who reportedly survived an Israeli strike on Oct. 10, suggest that he made his first outing after the cease-fire between Hezbollah and Israel came into force Wednesday at dawn. The photos show him praying in the cemetery where the party’s fighters who are killed are usually buried.
In one of the photos, shared on X by numerous users, Safa seems to be in perfect health, surrounded by a dozen men and praying in front of a grave. In the second photo, we can see him accompanied by two unidentified men. “First appearance of Hajj Wafic Safa after the war,” captioned a journalist close to Hezbollah on X on Wednesday.
True to form, Hezbollah continues to keep Safa's health status secret. When contacted, a Hezbollah spokesperson was unavailable to comment on the photos, while a Lebanese security source had told Asharq al-Awsat on Oct. 12 that the official was “in critical condition after being seriously injured.”
Born in 1960 in Zibdin, in the Nabatieh district, Safa joined Hezbollah in 1984. For a while, he was in charge of security in Beirut's southern suburbs, before rising through the ranks.
According to several sources, he was appointed head of the party's security committee in 1987 by former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, killed in an Israeli strike on Sept. 27. Nasrallah was Safa’s brother-in-law.
A few years later, the committee he headed became the “Liaison and Coordination Unit,” responsible for communications between Hezbollah, the security apparatus and political parties in Lebanon.
Photos taken before the cease-fire?
Journalist Ali al-Amin, who runs the Janoubia news website, believes the photos could have been taken before the cease-fire was concluded this week.
According to him, one of the men seen with him is none other than Ali Ayoub, Safa’s right hand man, who was in charge of security in the southern suburbs.
Israel claims to have assassinated Ayoub on Sept. 27, but Hezbollah has never confirmed his death.
L'Orient-Le Jour compared this photo with one published by Al-Modon news website in May 2024, showing Safa and Ayoub surrounded by security officials from the Internal Security Forces (ISF).
Close examination of the two photos shows that it is indeed Ayoub who is standing next to Safa at Rawdat al-Shahidain.
If Ayoub's death is confirmed, this would mean that the photos were taken before Sept. 27, 2024.
As for the Rawdat al-Shahidain cemetery, a video dating from Nov. 14 —12 days before the cease-fire — and published by the Megaphone platform shows the extent of the damage that occurred there. The damage was caused by a strike that targeted a nearby building, uprooting trees in the cemetery and destroying several tombstones.
The graves shown in Safa's photos are in very good condition, and flowers can even be seen in the cemetery, which could confirm that the photos were not taken recently.
Well-known by the public in recent years, Safa is a controversial figure, often associated with intimidation. In 2021, he threatened to remove Tarek Bitar, the investigating judge at the Court of Justice in charge of the investigation into the Aug. 4, 2020 double explosions at the Beirut port.
The Israeli research center Alma, which specializes in security issues in northern Israel, described Safa as Hezbollah's “man for special missions.”
Some Israeli media outlets consider him as Hezbollah's “Defense Minister,” while others see him as the party’s Interior or Foreign Affairs Minister.
According to information published at the end of October, Hezbollah appointed a new head of the Liaison and Coordination Unit to replace Safa, but the name of his successor has not been disclosed.
This article was translated from L'Orient-Le Jour.
