Hezbollah has announced that it appointed Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem as its leader, according to media reports. Both Al Jazeera and Al-Arabiya reported on the appointment on Tuesday, citing a statement from Hezbollah.
This follows the recent killings of the Lebanese movement’s previous leader and a potential successor in Israeli strikes.
Qassem, a longtime deputy to the deceased Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, has served as the militant group’s acting leader since Nasrallah’s death, Al-Arabiya noted. The group said Qassem was selected due to his “adherence to the principles and goals of Hezbollah,” Al Jazeera wrote.
The 71-year-old Qassem has often been referred to as Hezbollah’s ‘number two’, the outlet said, adding that he is one of the religious scholars who founded the group in the early 1980s. Earlier this month, Qassem stated that Hezbollah’s armed wing supports efforts to reach a ceasefire with Israel.
Israel and Hezbollah have sporadically exchanged fire since the Jewish state launched its military operation in Gaza in response to Hamas’ surprise attack against Israel on October 7 last year. Israel escalated its campaign against the Shiite militant group in September, launching Operation Northern Arrows to attack Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Foreign Ministry claimed that they “eliminated” nearly all of Hezbollah’s senior military leaders in recent airstrikes.
Cleric and politician Hassan Nasrallah, who served as the secretary-general of Hezbollah since 1992, was killed in an airstrike on the Lebanese capital, Beirut, late last month. A potential successor, Hashem Safieddine, was killed in Beirut shortly afterwards, according to the IDF. Qassem has reportedly resided in Tehran, Iran since early October, after moving there from Lebanon amid concerns over potential Israeli assassination attempts.