CNN
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Hezbollah has named Shiite cleric Naim Qassem as chief, over a month after his predecessor Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike.
The group’s Senior Council elected Qassem as secretary-general, Hezbollah’s media workplace mentioned in a press release on Tuesday, including that Qassem is dedicated to prophet “Mohammed’s genuine Islam” and the core rules of the group.
Qassem now leads a gaggle as soon as thought to be Iran’s most formidable proxy in its battle with Israel – a pressure that, in latest weeks, has been considerably weakened by Israeli strikes, with prime leaders killed, 1000’s of fighters wounded, and missile capabilities degraded. The group now faces an intense Israeli army marketing campaign in southern Lebanon.
Responding to the announcement, Israeli Minister of Protection Yoav Gallant wrote on X: “Non permanent appointment. Not for lengthy.”
The cleric had lengthy been the group’s second-in-command, serving as deputy chief to the late Nasrallah. He is likely one of the few leaders of the Iran-backed group to outlive Israel’s latest onslaught on the group, which noticed a few of its key figures assassinated.
“The group was left with little selections when it comes to the highest tier clerics,” Mohanad Hage Ali, deputy director for analysis on the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Center East Heart in Beirut, instructed CNN, including that Qassem was “a recognized face” and subsequently his appointment was “a no brainer selection for the group.”
Hashem Safieddine, thought to have been a a lot stronger contender to succeeded Nasrallah, was killed in an Israeli assault in Beirut, together with different commanders.
Born in 1953 within the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, Qassem is a well known member of the outdated guard. The 71-year-old Shiite cleric helped discovered Hezbollah in 1982, and has served seven consecutive phrases as deputy secretary-general since 1991. He additionally oversees the group’s parliamentary actions.
Earlier than his work with Hezbollah, he took half in “Harakat al Mahrumin,” or the Motion of the Dispossessed – a political group that later morphed into the Shiite Amal motion, a Hezbollah-allied group that’s now led by speaker of the Lebanese parliament, Nabih Berri.
The cleric has lengthy been below Israel’s radar. Earlier than killing Nasrallah, Israel additionally focused his predecessor Abbas al-Musawi, who was killed in an airstrike in 1992.
Qassem was a chemistry trainer for six years earlier than his days in Hezbollah. He typically gave interviews on tv and to newspapers. In 2015, he wrote the e-book, Hezbollah: The Story from Inside, which instructed the story of the Hezbollah’s emergence as “resistance pressure” and political occasion that sought to counter Israeli occupation.
Regardless of his media prominence, he was not somebody common Lebanese residents may relate to, Ali mentioned, making him unlikely to match his predecessor’s reputation. Qassem represented “the decrease center class,” whereas Nasrallah “belonged to the impoverished class in Lebanon,” Ali mentioned.
The cleric has repeatedly condemned Israel’s conflict in Gaza, saying that Hezbollah’s “supportive entrance” for the Palestinians will solely intensify “the extra Israel will increase its aggression, particularly when it targets civilians.”
However Qassem is unlikely to be “an absolute chief” for Hezbollah, Ali famous. “It’s extra seemingly that he will likely be a coordinator of the totally different voices within the group,” he mentioned, including that this is probably not intentional on the a part of the group, given there have been few choices to select from after Israel exacted “a generational coup” by killing most of Hezbollah’s outdated guard.
