On the left, Wafic Safa at the commemoration in Raouche of the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah, on Sept. 25, 2025. On the right, Naim Qassem and Mohammad Raad at the funeral of Ibrahim Akil in the southern suburbs of Beirut, in Sept. 2024. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient-Le Jour/ AFP.)
It was hardly a well-kept secret. Hezbollah confirmed last week the “resignation” of Wafiq Safa from his post as head of its powerful Liaison and Coordination Unit.Yet for weeks it had been clear that Safa was a shadow of his former self. “He has effectively been sidelined since the war,” a source close to the party said. He was unable to carry out his duties because of Israeli threats against him and because the Lebanese government had cut off all contact with his unit, for example by no longer recognizing the permits it issued to Hezbollah fighters. Read more Could Hezbollah survive the fall of the Iranian regime? After surviving an assassination attempt in October 2024, Safa kept a low profile. He did not reappear in public until a year later, in Raouche, during a ceremony marking the anniversary of former Hezbollah leader Hassan...
It was hardly a well-kept secret. Hezbollah confirmed last week the “resignation” of Wafiq Safa from his post as head of its powerful Liaison and Coordination Unit.Yet for weeks it had been clear that Safa was a shadow of his former self. “He has effectively been sidelined since the war,” a source close to the party said. He was unable to carry out his duties because of Israeli threats against him and because the Lebanese government had cut off all contact with his unit, for example by no longer recognizing the permits it issued to Hezbollah fighters. Read more Could Hezbollah survive the fall of the Iranian regime? After surviving an assassination attempt in October 2024, Safa kept a low profile. He did not reappear in public until a year later, in Raouche, during a ceremony marking the anniversary of former Hezbollah...
