Key Factors
- Deputy head Naim Qassem has been chosen by Hezbollah as its new chief.
- Qassem was elected by the five-member Shura Council, the group’s fundamental decision-making physique.
- He was one among Hezbollah’s founders in 1982 and had been the social gathering’s deputy secretary normal since 1991.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah motion has introduced it has chosen deputy head Naim Qassem to succeed Hassan Nasrallah as chief after on south Beirut final month.
“Hezbollah’s (governing) Shura Council agreed to elect… Sheikh Naim Qassem as secretary normal of Hezbollah,” the Iran-backed group stated in a press release, greater than a month after Nasrallah’s killing.
Qassem was elected by the five-member Shura Council, the group’s fundamental decision-making physique, two days earlier than Tuesday’s announcement, a supply near Hezbollah stated.
The supply, who spoke on the situation of anonymity as a result of he isn’t authorised to talk to the press, stated a brand new Shura Council could be elected after the tip of the warfare.
The council could then choose to elect a brand new chief or preserve Qassem within the prime publish, the supply stated.
Qassem had lengthy operated within the shadows of Nasrallah, a towering chief who was one of the crucial influential figures within the Center East.
Hashem Safieddine, the top of Hezbollah’s govt council, was initially tipped to succeed Nasrallah.
However he, too, was on Beirut’s southern suburbs shortly after Nasrallah’s assassination.
Who’s Naim Qassem?
Qassem, 71, was one among Hezbollah’s founders in 1982 and had been the social gathering’s deputy secretary normal since 1991, the yr earlier than Nasrallah took the helm.
He was born in Beirut in 1953 to a household from the village of Kfar Fila on the border with Israel.
He was essentially the most senior Hezbollah official to proceed making public appearances after Nasrallah largely went into hiding following the group’s 2006 warfare with Israel.
Since Nasrallah’s loss of life in an enormous Israeli air strike on 27 September, Qassem has made three televised addresses.
Naim Qassem was one among Hezbollah’s founders in 1982, and has been the social gathering’s deputy secretary normal since 1991. Supply: EPA, AAP / Wael Hamzeh
He claimed Hezbollah’s navy capabilities have been intact and backed efforts by parliament speaker Nabih Berri to dealer a ceasefire.
In his final speech on, 15 October, Qassem stated a ceasefire was the one manner Israel may assure the return of its residents to the north.
The Israel-Hezbollah warfare erupted final month after practically a yr of cross-border fireplace.
On 23 September, Israel ramped up strikes on Hezbollah strongholds and despatched in floor forces whereas killing one member of the group’s prime management after one other.
The warfare has killed greater than 1,700 individuals in Lebanon since September 23, in line with an AFP tally of well being ministry figures, although the actual quantity is probably going greater attributable to gaps within the information.
The Israeli navy says it has misplaced 37 troopers in its Lebanon marketing campaign because it launched floor operations on September 30.
