Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general, was elected leader of the Lebanese armed group on Tuesday. He has been a top member in the Iran-backed movement for more than 30 years.
Speaking in front of curtains from an unidentified location on October 8, Qassem stated that the struggle between Hezbollah and Israel was a war of who cries first, and Hezbollah will not cry first. The group’s capabilities remained intact despite “painful blows” from Israel.
But he added the group supported the efforts of parliament speaker Nabih Berri – a Hezbollah ally – to secure a ceasefire, for the first time omitting any mention of a Gaza truce deal as a pre-condition for halting the group’s fire on Israel.
His 30-minute televised address came just days after senior Hezbollah figure Hashem Safieddine was thought to have been the target of an Israeli strike and 11 days after the killing of Hezbollah’s secretary general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Safieddine’s killing was confirmed by Hezbollah on October 23.
Naim Qassem: Who Is He?
Abbas al-Musawi, the armed group’s then-secretary general, named Qassem deputy chief in 1991. The following year, he was killed in an Israeli helicopter raid.
One of Hezbollah’s most prominent spokespersons, Qassem continued to serve after Nasrallah took over as leader. He has given interviews to international media, particularly during the last year’s raging cross-border clashes with Israel.
Qassem gave his second broadcast speech since Israel and Hezbollah’s war escalated in September on October 8. After Nasrallah was killed on September 27 in an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut, he was the first member of Hezbollah’s high leadership to speak on television.
Speaking on September 30, Qassem said Hezbollah would choose a successor to its slain secretary general “at the earliest opportunity” and would continue to fight Israel in solidarity with Palestinians. “What we are doing is the bare minimum… We know that the battle may be long,” he said in a 19-minute speech.
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Source: NEWS 18
