Beirut, October 29, 2024– Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement announced Tuesday that deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem will succeed Hassan Nasrallah as its new leader, following Nasrallah’s death in an Israeli airstrike on southern Beirut last month.
In a statement, Hezbollah’s Shura Council confirmed, “The council has elected Sheikh Naim Qassem as the secretary general of Hezbollah,” marking the decision more than a month after Nasrallah’s assassination.
Initially, Hashem Safieddine, head of Hezbollah’s executive council, was considered the likely successor. However, he too was killed shortly afterward in a similar Israeli strike on southern Beirut.
A founding member of Hezbollah in 1982, Qassem, 71, has held the position of deputy secretary general since 1991, a year before Nasrallah assumed leadership. Born in Beirut in 1953, Qassem’s family hails from Kfar Fila, a village near Lebanon’s southern border with Israel.
As the highest-ranking Hezbollah official to continue making public appearances, Qassem has maintained a visible presence since Nasrallah largely went into hiding following the 2006 conflict with Israel. Since Nasrallah’s death in a massive Israeli strike on September 27, Qassem has delivered three televised speeches, opting for formal Arabic over the colloquial Lebanese dialect commonly used by Nasrallah.
