The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah announced that it has chosen Sheikh Naeem Qassem as its new leader following the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike last month. Qassem has been a high-ranking figure in the Iran-backed movement for over 30 years.
He became the first member of Hezbollah's senior leadership to make a televised address after Nasrallah's assassination in an Israeli air attack on the southern suburbs of Beirut on September 27. On September 30, Qassem stated that Hezbollah would choose a successor to the slain secretary-general "at the earliest opportunity" and would continue the struggle against Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians.
On October 8, in his address, Qassem stated that the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel is a war over who will cry first, and Hezbollah will not cry first. Despite the "painful blows" from Israel, the group's goals and capabilities remain unchanged. He also noted that the group supports the efforts of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah, to secure a ceasefire, for the first time omitting mention of a truce in Gaza as a precondition for halting attacks on Israel.
Qassem was appointed deputy leader of the armed group in 1991 and remained in his position when Nasrallah became the leader. He has long been one of Hezbollah's leading spokesmen, giving interviews to foreign media, including during the fighting with Israel over the past year, writes Reuters.
Qassem was born in 1953 in Beirut to a family from southern Lebanon, and his political activity began in the Lebanese Shiite movement Amal. Qassem participated in meetings that led to the formation of Hezbollah, created with the support of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. He has been the general coordinator of Hezbollah's parliamentary election campaigns since the group first participated in them in 1992.
Photo: Reuters