Hezbollah has announced Naim Qassem as its new Head.
Qassem, whose promotion from Deputy Leader was announced on Tuesday, October 29, 2024, replaces Hassan Nasrallah as Secretary-General of the Lebanon-based armed group.
Nasrallah was killed in Beirut in late September by an Israeli strike. Many other senior Hezbollah officials have also been targeted since Israel turned its focus on the group that month.
Nasrallah’s cousin, Hashem Safieddine was previously viewed as the favourite to take the helm of the Iran-linked Hezbollah, but he died in an Israeli strike on Beirut shortly after his relative.
In a statement, the militant group said that Qassem was elected to take up the position due to his “adherence to the principles and goals of Hezbollah.”
It added that the group would “[ask] God Almighty to guide him in this noble mission in leading Hezbollah and its Islamic resistance.”
The 71-year-old Qassem has often been referred to as Hezbollah’s “number two.” He is one of the religious scholars who founded the group in the early 1980s and has a long history in Shia political activism.
Born in 1953 in Beirut to a family from southern Lebanon, Qassem’s political activism began with the Amal Movement.
In 1979, he left the group during Iran’s Islamic revolution.
Qassem took part in the meetings that led to the formation of Hezbollah, which was established with the backing of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982.
In 1991, Qassem was appointed deputy chief by the then secretary-general Abbas al-Musawi, who was killed the following year in an Israeli helicopter attack.
Qassem stayed in his role when Nasrallah became leader and has been Hezbollah’s leading spokesman during interviews with foreign media.
He was the most senior Hezbollah official to continue making public appearances after Nasrallah largely went into hiding following the group’s 2006 war with Israel.
Since the former leader was killed, Qassem has made three televised addresses, speaking in more formal Arabic than the colloquial Lebanese favoured by Nasrallah.
Hamas congratulated Hezbollah on the announcement of Naim Qassem as its new Secretary-General.
“We consider this election as evidence of the party’s recovery from the targeting of its leadership bodies, and we affirm our support for the new leadership of the party.”
Hamas
The Palestinian group wished Qassem and Hezbollah luck in “confronting the Zionist enemy and its colonial ambitions in Lebanon, Palestine and the region.”
Appointment Of Qassem Shows No Hezbollah ‘Leadership Vacuum’
According to Ali Rizk, a Beirut-based Security and Political Analyst, the decision to appoint Naim Qassem as Hezbollah’s Secretary-General demonstrates that the armed group is rebuilding after the killing of several top leaders.
“This would have the effect of boosting the morale somewhat of Hezbollah’s supporters. It would also be a message to Hezbollah’s enemies saying there is no leadership vacuum and everything is going smoothly and Hezbollah is rebuilding. So I think there were various messages sent.”
Ali Rizk
Hezbollah had to choose a well-known, familiar face to take over the position from Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli attack in September.
“The only familiar face left, relatively speaking, was Sheikh Naim Qassem. So I think what we have now is a choice of a leader from the old guard in order to maybe give room for the new generation to emerge and for new faces.
“I don’t think it would’ve been feasible for Hezbollah to elect an unknown figure at this time.”
Ali Rizk
However, in a post on X, Israeli Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant described Naim Qassem, the new Hezbollah Chief as a “Temporary appointment. Not for long.” “The countdown has begun,” Gallant wrote in a separate post.
READ ALSO: FirstBank Ghana Boosts SME Empowerment with 2024 Fair and Advisory Support
