Beirut, Lebanon. The Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah announced on Tuesday the appointment of its number two, Naim Qassem, to succeed its late leader Hasan Nasrallah, assassinated on September 27 in an Israeli attack on the southern outskirts of Beirut.
“The Shura Council (the movement’s leading body) agreed to elect Sheikh Naim Qasem as secretary general of Hezbollah,” according to a statement from the formation, at war against Israel.
Initially, Hashem Safieddine, the leader of this executive council, was seen as Nasrallah’s successor, but he was killed in another Israeli attack in the south of the Lebanese capital.
Qasem, 71, was part of the founders of Hezbollah in 1982, created at the request of Iran after the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, and was the deputy secretary general of the political-military formation since 1991, a year before Nasrallah took office. the reins
He was the most prominent leader of the group to continue appearing in public since Nasrallah began to spend his most time in hiding after Hezbollah’s war against Israel in 2006.
Since Nasrallah’s death, Qasem has given three televised speeches, including one on October 8, in which he stated that the armed group supported efforts to reach a ceasefire in Lebanon.
In the spotlight
From Jerusalem, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant assured that the new appointment will be “temporary” and will not last “long.”
“Temporary appointment. Not for long,” the minister wrote in X in a message, along with a photo of Qasem.
