The headquarters of al-Sirat television on Oct. 2, destroyed by an Israeli strike on the night of Sept. 30, 2024, in the southern suburbs of Beirut. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine)
Hezbollah on Monday appointed a new head of its press office, Youssef al-Zein, to replace Mohammad Afif Naboulsi, killed on Nov. 17 in an Israeli strike, the party announced in a statement carried by the state-run National News Agency (NNA).
Naboulsi was killed in an Israeli strike that targeted the headquarters of the Lebanese branch of the Syrian Baath party in the Ras al-Nabaa neighborhood in the heart of Beirut. Four members of his media team were also killed in the strike.
"The work of the resistance began with a small group and grew into a large party ... We will continue to carry the voice of truth and resistance," Hezbollah said in a statement. "We will continue to carry the voice of the resistance and the oppressed to all corners of the world. Youssef al-Zein will thus succeed Mohammad Afif, and God willing, we will all be at your service."
For many years, Afif played a key role in managing Hezbollah's media relations, maintaining ties with local and international journalists and frequently providing information on condition of anonymity.
He first came to public attention during the July 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, when he was head of news for the party's al-Manar channel. He also served as media advisor to Hassan Nasrallah, the former Hezbollah secretary-general who was assassinated on Sept. 27 in Beirut. After Nasrallah's death, Afif made numerous media appearances, holding several press conferences in Hezbollah's stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
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