Screengrab taken from Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV shows the group’s leader Naim Qassem delivering a speech on October 15, 2024.
Hezbollah announced on October 29 that its deputy head Naim Qassem will serve as its new secretary-general, succeeding Hassan Nasrallah.
Qassem has served as the group’s acting leader since Israel killed Nasrallah in a strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut on September 27. The presumed successor to Nasrallah, Hashem Safieddine, was also killed in an Israeli strike in the Lebanese capital on October 3 before he was officially named secretary-general.
In a brief statement, Hezbollah said that Qassem was elected as the new secretary-general by its Shura Council, noting that the decision was “grounded in the principles of true Islam and the steadfast ideals of Hezbollah.”
“We pledge to God Almighty, to the soul of our beloved martyr Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah (may God be pleased with him), to the martyrs, to the Islamic resistance fighters, and to our resilient and loyal people, to work together to fulfill Hezbollah’s principles and goals,” the group added.
Qassem was born in 1953 in southern Lebanon. He worked as a Shiite cleric and educator until the late 1970s, when he joined the Amal Movement during the Lebanese civil war.
When a number of Amal members split to found Hezbollah in 1982, Qassem followed and was appointed deputy leader in 1991 under founding leader Abbas al-Musawi, who was killed in an Israeli strike the following year. Qassem remained in his role when Nasrallah became leader in 1992, and served as his deputy until Nasrallah’s death.
Since the assassination of Nasrallah, Qassem has given three televised addresses, reaffirming Hezbollah’s stance against Israel.
“Despite the losses of its commanders, the attacks against civilians throughout Lebanon, and great sacrifices, we will not budge from our position,” Qassem said in a speech on September 30. “We will continue to support Gaza and to defend Lebanon.”
Following Qassem’s appointment, the Israeli government’s official Arabic account on the X social network posted, “His tenure in this position may be the shortest in the history of this terrorist organization if he follows in the footsteps of his predecessors Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine.”
“There is no solution in Lebanon except to dismantle this organization as a military force,” it wrote.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also posted a picture of Qassem to X, writing “temporary appointment. Not for long” and “The countdown has begun.”
The appointment of Qassem indicates that Hezbollah has successfully completed rebuilding its command and control structure.
The confrontation between Hezbollah and Israel broke out after the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, with the group launching attacks in support of the Palestinian enclave. Israel escalated its strikes on Hezbollah starting from September 17 and on September 30 it launched a ground operation in southern Lebanon.
So far, the confrontation has claimed the lives of over 90 people in Israel, mainly troops, and more than 2,700 others in Lebanon.
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hezbollah needs to celebrate by firing a few hundred rockets at ziostani illegal settlements south of the border. no jew can be allowed to sleep soundly until palestine is free, from the river to the sea.
hezbollah is more or less illegal entity, using armed violence as the main tool. it is internal affair of lebanon how they are going to deal with that but if they continue this way – aka doing nothing and waiting it will somehow heal over the time, they are quite stupid. of course , it will be solved on its own. the solution is called gaza. israel will grab land, commit genocide and call it a day.
bla bla bla – go jump in front of a train!
do not expect any mercy for lebanese refugees to europe. we do not want them here and we will treat them as enemies.
you spelled isreal wrong when detailing the illegal terrorist regime… definitely not spelled with an h or a z or a b…
you cannot kill hezbollah. once again i need to remind the small hats and small minds that so long as jewish oppression and land theft exists, there will always be resistance
it depends, who is “you”. of course, west can’t kill hezbollah. it is the responsibility of lebanese people to distance of these cretins. if lebanese are unable to do so, the west will kill e v e r y o n e living in lebanon, including women , children etc. if lebanese civilians think they can flee to europe, they are gravely mistaken. we don’t want the towel heads here anymore. let them eat what they started.
you are one insane genocidal muddafukker aren’t “you”..? what happened? did your parents fail you, they let you watch cnn and play with lindsey graham dolls as a child….pity.
you do not know any lebanese people, they are some of the kindest, warmest people you will meet. who are the zionists to say lebanon needs another civil war to do its bidding. keep away from jews, their influence is dumbing you down
trust he’s an evil bastard that won’t give the jews a pause but relentlessly will drone the occupied parts till they have netanyahu naked in a cage on tour of palestine. no quarters for the jews!
now, spread the rumour that he and his million bags of gold are hiding under the us embassy in beirut… then wait for israel to respond…
dead man walking