Hezbollah elects Naim Qassem to succeed slain head Nasrallah

Hezbollah announced on October 29 that it has elected Naim Qassem, the deputy head of the group, as the successor to the late Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, who died in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburb over a month ago.

In a written statement, Hezbollah's Shoura Council confirmed Qassem’s election, noting that the process adhered to their established protocol for selecting a new secretary general, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.

Qassem, 71, was appointed as Hezbollah's deputy chief in 1991 by the group's then-leader, Abbas Al-Musawi, who was killed in an Israeli helicopter strike the following year.

Qassem maintained his position when Nasrallah ascended to leadership and has been a prominent spokesperson for Hezbollah, frequently engaging with foreign media amid ongoing cross-border tensions with Israel over the past year.

Nasrallah was killed on September 27, and shortly thereafter, senior Hezbollah figure Hashem Safieddine—widely seen as a likely successor—was also killed in Israeli strikes a week later.

Since Nasrallah's death, Qassem has delivered three televised addresses, including one on October 8, in which he expressed the group's support for initiatives aimed at achieving a ceasefire for Lebanon.

By Vafa Guliyeva