Hezbollah has elected deputy secretary general N🐼aim Qassem as the chief on Tuesday weeks after Hassan Nasrallah was killed during intense Israeli strikes❀ on Lebanon.
Qassem, a longtime deputy to Nasrallah, has served as the militant group’sܫ acting leader since Nasrallah’s death. His appointment to replace Nasrallah was announced on Tuesday, acc🧔ording to Reuters.
The group said in a statement that Hezbollah's decision-making Shura Co♊uncil elected Kassem, who had been Nasrallah's deputy leader for over three decades, as the new secretary-general. The stated, "in accordance with its established mechanism for choosing a secretary 🎃general"."
🙈Hezbollah vowed to continue with Nasrallah's policꦓies “until victory is achieved”.
In a recent speech, Qassem highlighted the militant group’s support for efforts aimed at achieving a ceasefire in﷽ the ongoing Israel-Hezbollah confl🎉ict in Lebanon.
This development comes jus🀅t days after reports indicated that Qassem may have fled to Iran due to fears of assassination, follo🀅wing the death of Hashem Safieddine—Nasrallah’s cousin and a potential successor—who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut earlier this month.
According to a report from UAE-based Erem News on October 21, Qassem departed Beirut on October🃏 5 aboard an aircraft that had been used by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during a state visit to Lebanon and Syria.
Highlights From Naim Qassem's Life
Naim Qassem has been a ke🗹y figure in Hezbollah for over 30 years, appointed deputy chief in 1991 by then-secretary 𒀰general Abbas al-Musawi.
His political journey began with the Lebanese Shia Amal Movement, which he l𓄧eft in 1979 following Iran's Islamic Revolution.
Qassem participated♚ in discussions that led to the formation of Hezbollah, supported by Iran's Revolutionary Guards after🦋 Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982.
Since Hezbollah's first parliamentary elections in 1992, he has served as the geneᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ🐻ᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚral coordinator of the group's election campaigns.
Qassem has remained influential under the leadership of Hassan Nasrallah, often representing Hezbollah in in🎶terviews with foreign media, particul💖arly during recent cross-border conflicts with Israel.
