Hezbollah Names Naim Qassem As Slain Chief Hassan Nasrallah's Successor (image-X/Nadira_ali12)
Lebanese group Hezbollah on Tuesday announced it had elected deputy head Naim Qassem as the successor of former secretary general Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated by an Israeli air strike on Beirut’s southern area in September.
In its official statement, the Lebanese militant group said that Qassem was elected to take up the position as the chief due to his “adherence to the principles and goals of Hezbollah,” reported Al Jazeera.
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The Lebanese group was believed to have hit a heavy blow with the back-to-back killing of its senior leaders and commanders by Israel’s indiscriminate bombing in the neighbouring country. The Israeli army last week claimed that it assassinated the potential heir to Hassan Nasrallah, Hashem Safieddine, one of the former chief Hassan Nasrallah’s relatives.
However, despite the power vacuum following the assassination of the group’s chief in September, Hezbollah continued to inflict a heavy blow to the Israeli occupation forces, showing its multi-polar organisational capacity, which is not dependent solely on the leaders. More than two dozen Israeli soldiers lost their lives fighting with Hezbollah in border areas, while the Jewish nation has been going on its bombing campaign in Lebanese towns and villages, killing hundreds of civilians.
Political and military observers have pointed out the organisational capability of the Iran-backed group, noting that dismantling them will not be easy. However, by naming the 71-year-old Qassem as its new leader, the group has reasserted its strength.
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Who Is Naim Qassem?
One of the founders of the group in the 1980s and is referred to as Hezbollah’s number two leader, Qassem, completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Lebanese University in 1970. Also a religious scholar, he studied theological subjects under Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, an influential Islamic scholar. He became the chief of the Association for Islamic Religious Education by 1974 and later co-founded the Lebanese Union of Muslim Students.
It was in 1991 that Qaseem was elected Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary General after the assassination of Abbas al-Moussaoui. He played significant roles in Lebanese government and paramilitary, making him a leader with influence in government as well as the Iran-backed group. Notably, political analysts have pointed out why Hezbollah cannot be defeated is because it was not an outsider group but was part of the legitimate government in Lebanon.
