Who is Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s new chief?

Hezbollah announced deputy head Naim Qassem as the chief of the group and successor of Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, who was martyred in an Israeli air attack on Beirut in September.

Hezbollah’s (governing) Shura Council announced Sheikh Naim Qassem as secretary general of Hezbollah.”

Qassem has been one of the most visible faces of Hezbollah in recent years, even after Nasrallah went underground after the group’s 2006 war with Israel.

Qassem was appointed deputy chief in 1991 by then-secretary general Abbas al-Musawi, who was martyred by an Israeli helicopter attack the following year.

Qassem remained in his role when Nasrallah became leader, and has long been one of Hezbollah’s leading spokesmen.

Qassem’s televised address on Oct 8 was his second since hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah intensified in September.

He was the first member of Hezbollah’s top leadership to make televised remarks after Nasrallah’s martyrdom in an Israeli air attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sept 27.

Speaking on Sept 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.

Born in 1953 in Beirut to a family from Lebanon’s south, Qassem’s political activism began with the Amal Movement.

Qassem took part in meetings that led to the formation of Hezbollah, established in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982.

He has been the general coordinator of Hezbollah’s parliamentary election campaigns since the group first contested them in 1992.