Mohammad Haidar (in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: مُحَمَّد حيدر, born 25 November 1959), also known as Abu Ali Haidar, is a Lebanese politician and senior leader in Hezbollah’s

Jihad Council The Jihad Council of Hezbollah is a council responsible for directing the groups' military and security activities. It also exercises considerable influence over the organization's various civilian branches and maintains ties with external partner ...

, which oversees the organization’s activities, including recruitment, training, and security. In September 2019, the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated Haidar as a

Specially Designated Global Terrorist A Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) is a person or entity that has been designated as such by the United States Department of State or the U.S. Department of the Treasury. An SDGT designation is made under authority of U.S. Executive ...

, imposing sanctions that freeze his assets under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibit U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with him.

Biography

Mohammad Haidar was elected to the Lebanese Parliament in 2004, representing Hezbollah, and served as a member until 2009. During this time, he was also a senior figure within Hezbollah’s Jihad Council, overseeing military operations and appointing leaders to various units. Following the assassination of Hezbollah’s international operations chief,

Imad Mughniyah Imad Fayez Mughniyeh (; 7 December 1962 – 12 February 2008), also known by his nom de guerre al-Hajj Radwan (), was a Lebanese militant leader who was the founding member of Lebanon's Islamic Jihad Organization and number two in Hezbollah's ...

, in 2008, Haidar emerged as one of the organization's top military leaders. His influence further solidified after the death of another key figure,

Mustafa Badreddine use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = Damascus International Airport, Syria , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_plac ...

, in 2016. On September 10, 2019, the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated Haidar as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224. This designation froze his assets under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibited U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with him. The U.S. government described Haidar as a pivotal figure in Hezbollah’s military operations, emphasizing his role in maintaining the group’s global networks. This move was part of a broader strategy to weaken Hezbollah by targeting its leadership and financial infrastructure.

Assassination attempt

On August 25, 2019, Lebanese media reported that two Israeli drones crashed in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

's southern

Dahieh Dahieh (, ) is a predominantly Shia Muslim suburb in the south of Beirut, in the Baabda District of Lebanon. It has a minority of Sunni Muslims, Christians, and a Palestinian refugee camp with 20,000 inhabitants. It is a residential and commerc ...

neighborhood under Hezbollah's control. The Lebanese newspaper ''Nidaa Al-Watan'' had previously reported that Israel was planning to assassinate Muhammad Haydar. On November 23, 2024, an Israeli airstrike targeted a building in the Basta area of Beirut's Central District. The attack resulted in at least 29 fatalities and left 67 others injured, including women. He was reportedly not present in the building.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haidar, Mohammad Lebanese politicians Hezbollah members People from Beirut 20th-century Lebanese people