Who is Waqif Safa, Nasrallah’s relative & top Hezbollah official, who dodged Israeli strikes in Beirut?

Israel launched deadly airstrikes in central Beirut on Thursday targetting to eliminate Wafiq Safa, Hezbollah’s top security official, but he managed to escape. The Israeli attack in Lebanon’s capital, however, left 22 people dead and over 117 others injured.  

The strikes in Beirut’s densely populated neighbourhood marked a shift from Israel’s earlier focus on Hezbollah’s stronghold in the southern suburbs.  

It is also being considered as the most significant escalation in Benjamin Netanyahu’s military campaign.

Who is Wafiq Safa?

Let’s find out who Wafiq Safa is, a Hezbollah top security official, whom the Israeli airstrikes were targetted at, but he managed to survive the assassination attempt.

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1 - Wafiq Safa heads the coordination and liaison unit of Hezbollah which is responsible for working with Lebanese security agencies.  

2 - According to a report by BBC, Wafiq Safa is brother-in-law of Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s long-term leader, who was eliminated by Israeli forces on September 27.  

3 - Born in 1960 in the village of Zabdine near Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, Wafiq Safa is said to be a prominent figure in Hezbollah for decades

4 - Wafiq Safa is also known for his involvement in Hezbollah’s political and military activities.  

5 - According to the US Treasury website, Safa is accused of using Lebanese ports and border crossings to facilitate the movement of Hezbollah personnel.

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Also Read: 22 killed in Israeli attack in Lebanon, top Hezbollah security official escapes assassination attempt

6 - In 1987, Nasrallah appointed Safa as the head of the Hezbollah security committee, which was later renamed the Liaison and Coordination Unit.

7 - As per the US Treasury website, Hezbollah leveraged Safa to facilitate the passage of items, including illegal drugs and weapons, into the port of Beirut. The terrorist group specifically routed certain shipments through him to avoid scrutiny.    

8 - Safa is also accused of facilitating travel for Hezbollah associates through a border crossing.      

9 - As per Yedioth Ahronoth, a Hebrew newspaper, Safa collaborated with leader Mohammad Raad to secure foreign citizenship for over 100 Hezbollah members, who were planned to be sent on “long missions” to Western or Arab countries.

10 - Safa is said to have participated in a host of negotiations over the years, most notably in 2000 as part of a committee negotiating the exchange of three Israeli soldiers who were kidnapped, with their bodies returned in 2004 as part of a deal. He was also part of negotiations to recover two Israeli soldiers abducted before the Second Lebanon War in July 2006, whose remains were returned in July 2008.

11 - As per reports, in 2021, Safa allegedly warned the judge investigating the devastating Beirut port explosion, pressing the judge to halt inquiries involving Hezbollah-aligned politicians.