Hezbollah appoints Naim Qassem as chief

Beirut (Quds News Network)- Hezbollah has appointed its deputy secretary general Naim Qassem as chief on Tuesday to succeed his predecessors Hashem Safieddine and Hassan Nasrallah who were killed in separate Israeli strikes on Lebanon.

Qassem, a longtime deputy to Nasrallah, has served as the group’s acting leader since Nasrallah’s death.

Who’s Naim Qassem?

The 71-year-old is Hezbollah’s deputy secretary-general, and has often been referred to as the movement’s “number two”.

He was born in the Nabatieh governorate’s Kfar Kila, a southern Lebanese village that has suffered through many Israeli attacks, especially since last October.

Qassem was elected deputy secretary-general in 1991, under then-Secretary-General Abbas al-Musawi, who was also assassinated by Israel.

He has played an important public-facing role in Hezbollah over the years, and is also a member of the group’s Shura Council.

He famously published a book called, Hezbollah, the Story from Within, in 2005, which was translated into several languages.

Qassem has long been one of the leading spokesmen for Hezbollah, conducting many interviews with foreign media.