Hezbollah names Naim Qassem as new leader
An image grab taken from Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV shows the group’s deputy chief Naim Qassem delivering a speech from an undisclosed location on Oct 15, 2024. PHOTO: AFP
Hezbollah announced on Tuesday it has chosen deputy head Naim Qassem to succeed Hassan Nasrallah as leader after his death in an Israeli strike on south Beirut last month.
"Hezbollah's (governing) Shura Council agreed to elect... Sheikh Naim Qassem as secretary general of Hezbollah," the group said in a statement, more than a month after Nasrallah's killing.
Israel quickly hit back, with Defence Minister Yoav Gallant warning in a post on X that Qassem's appointment was "not for long".
In a separate social media post in Hebrew, Gallant wrote that the "countdown has begun".
Qassem was elected by the five-member Shura Council