Hezbollah Elects Naeem Qassem as New Secretary-General Following Israeli Airstrikes
October 29, 2024, 11:24 am

Hezbollah Elects Naeem Qassem as New Secretary-General Following Israeli Airstrikes

نعيم قاسم

Hezbollah on Tuesday elected Naeem Qassem as the new Secretary-General, succeeding Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburbs of Beirut on the 27th.

In a statement, the party said, "In accordance with the procedure for electing the Secretary-General, the Council of the Party reached a consensus to choose His Eminence Sheikh Naeem Qassem as the Secretary-General of Hezbollah."

Qassem has previously held the position of Deputy Secretary-General.

Qassem was chosen after the Executive Council of Hezbollah, which is led by Hashim Safi al-Din, who was considered a prominent figure to succeed Nasrallah.

On October 23, the party mourned Safi al-Din, who, like his predecessor, alongside several "brother martyrs," was killed in an Israeli attack that targeted the southern suburbs of Beirut earlier in the month.

Following Safi al-Din's death, Qassem was a member of the Shura Council of Hezbollah.

Qassem appeared in three televised speeches since Hassan Nasrallah's death, the latest of which was on October 15.

In his statements, he said, "The solution lies in a ceasefire," but emphasized that the party will continue its struggle, asserting that Israel "will be defeated."

Naeem Qassem, 71, is one of the founding members of Hezbollah, established in 1982. In 1991, he became the Deputy Secretary-General.

Hezbollah's involvement escalated following Hamas's attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which intensified the war in Gaza and opened a "support front" for the territory.

After a year of bombardments between the party and Israel across the border, the German army announced the transfer of its military operations center to its northern front with Lebanon, where it launched devastating airstrikes on Hezbollah's stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut and eastern Lebanon. Subsequently, limited ground operations were announced in southern Lebanon.

Since the war began on September 23, over 1,700 deaths have been reported in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally based on data from the Ministry of Health.

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