Multiple political and organizational information indicates that Hezbollah has begun implementing a comprehensive restructuring process in its political and administrative organization, after the major losses it incurred during its recent war with Israel, which led to the killing of its historic Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah, and his successor, Sheikh Hashem Safi al-Din, in addition to prominent leaders from the first and second ranks.
In this context, the resignation of Wafiq Safa, the party’s Liaison and Coordination Unit official, which was said to be a convincing resignation, reflects part of the changes taking place within the organization. According to informed Lebanese sources quoted by Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, the new Secretary-General of the party, Sheikh Naim Qassem, seeks to strengthen his administrative and organizational control by linking all party institutions directly to the General Secretariat, which is a radical change in the role of the leadership, which was previously limited to general supervision, while the executive body is in charge of daily details, similar to a “government within the party.”
The sources explain that one of the most prominent features of these changes is the prioritization of political presence at the expense of religious leaders, with the entry of old political figures close to Qasim, who were with him in the Dawa Party and the Islamic Committees, into the decision-making center, in exchange for a decline in the role of the clerics who formed the backbone of the leadership in the previous stage.
In this context, there has been a trend to appoint the head of the “Loyalty to the Resistance” parliamentary bloc, Muhammad Raad, as Deputy Secretary-General, with the issuance of the decision likely to be postponed until after the parliamentary elections, while Representative Hassan Fadlallah is expected to head the parliamentary bloc. Information also indicates that the former minister and MP, Muhammad Fneish, has assumed the presidency of the executive body, in order to reorganize the administrative and institutional apparatus of the party, with organizational assistance from Sheikh Ali Damoush.
Opposition sources familiar with the party’s internal affairs state that Safa was one of the first officials affected by regulatory measures that reduced their powers, starting with preventing him from making media statements without prior approval from the Media Relations Department, leading to a decline in his political role in communicating with political forces and electoral files, with his almost complete absence from the public scene in his capacity as a political envoy for the party.
The sources explain that the “Liaison and Coordination Unit,” which in previous stages was known in practice as the “Security Committee,” played multiple roles that included managing security and field problems, coordinating with Lebanese agencies, and following up on the files of detainees, in addition to engaging in sensitive negotiation files, including the exchange of prisoners, which allowed its official to build a wide network of political and security relations internally and externally. However, according to the sources, this expansion later led to the unit exceeding its security tasks, which prompted the new leadership to issue clear directives to limit its role to security and technical coordination only, and to prevent it from any political, media, or negotiating activity.
According to these directives, political powers became limited to Secretary-General Naeem Qassem, the head of the parliamentary bloc, Muhammad Raad, and the political assistant to the Secretary-General, Hussein Khalil, while the unit’s role was limited to technical coordination with the Lebanese security services.
Sources tracking these transformations link them to a broader context that followed Qasim’s assumption of the General Secretariat, where the influence of the religious leaders assassinated by Israel declined, in contrast to the rise of non-religious political figures such as Muhammad Raad, Mahmoud Qamati, and Ibrahim al-Musawi, in reference to the party’s tendency towards strengthening its political character. The media file, according to the sources, has also become subject to central management under the supervision of MP Ibrahim Al-Moussawi, with the aim of unifying the discourse and controlling media appearance.
In an analysis of these developments, political analyst Ali Al-Amin said, in an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, that Safa’s removal comes in the context of the repercussions of the war, the Iranian decline, and the course of the American-Iranian negotiation, considering that the party has become forced to adapt to new equations, and that what was possible in the past is no longer sustainable. He pointed out that Safa is on the US sanctions lists, which makes the decision a political and security message in light of American and official pressure towards dismantling this device.
Al-Amin pointed out that the party seeks to appear as a civil political party, even outwardly, in an attempt to show its harmony with state institutions, considering that any development in the course of negotiations between Washington and Tehran will reflect more flexibility in its internal behavior.
On the other hand, a source close to Hezbollah conveys a different story, stressing that the measures against Safa fall within a comprehensive organizational review that has affected more than one site and official since the end of the war, and that Safa is still part of the party’s organizational structure. However, media reports, including what was reported by Al-Jadeed TV, reported that Safa submitted his resignation from the presidency of the unit with internal approval, due to deep disagreements with the party leadership, which were accompanied by a reduction in his powers.
Data indicate that Hussein Al-Abdullah, the former security official in southern Lebanon and close to Naim Qassem, was assigned the duties of heading the Liaison and Coordination Unit, while the task of communicating with the state and external parties was assigned to his deputy, Ahmed Muhanna, as part of the redistribution of powers in line with the party’s new orientation.
