Naim Qassem (screenshot)
Naim Qassem has been named the new leader of the Hezbollah terrorist group based in Lebanon. He now succeeds the Iranian backed group’s previous leader Hasan Nasrallah who was killed in an Israeli airstrike that hit the bunker in which he was hiding under a Beirut building on September 27.
“Hezbollah’s Shura Council (a religious ruling body) agreed to elect Sheikh Naim Qassem as secretary general of Hezbollah,” the terror group said in a statement.
After Nasrallah was killed, Naim Qassem said off the threat of more Israeli military attacks, “We will confront any possibility, and we are ready if the Israelis decide to enter by land. The forces of the resistance are ready for a ground engagement.”
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Naim Qassem is currently the Deputy Secretary-General of Hezbollah, serving as second-in-command to Hassan Nasrallah since 1991. He is a key political and religious figure within the Lebanese militant group and political party.
The Counter Extremism Project explains that Naim Qassem was born in Kfar fila, in southern Lebanon, and was among the founding members of Hezbollah in 1982. Qassem has served as Hezbollah’s second-in-command since 1992, when the group entered the political realm. He is widely credited with being Hezbollah’s leading media personality. In 2004, he published a history of Hezbollah that included an autobiographical account of his role in the organization. Two years later, it was translated into numerous languages, including English, and was titled “Hezbollah: The Story from Within.”
The Council on Foreign Relations says Hezbollah is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and many other countries, and has deep-rooted military alliances with repressive, anti-Israel regimes in Iran and Syria. Cross-border clashes between Hezbollah and Israel escalated in recent years, particularly amid Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip that broke out last year. In a major intensification of its battle with Hezbollah, in late 2024 Israel killed longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah, and launched a ground offensive against the group in southern Lebanon.
