News - Middle East: Hezbollah declared on Tuesday it has named Sheikh Naim Qassem as a secretary general of the Lebanese resistance group, a month after martyrdom of former S.G. Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah.

In a statement, Hezbollah said that the group’s Shoura Council agreed to elect Sheikh Qassem as a secretary general.

“Based on faith in Allah the almighty, commitment to the bona fide Islam of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), adherence to the principles and goals of Hezbollah, and in accordance with the approved mechanism for electing a secretary-general, Hezbollah Shoura Council agreed to elect his eminence Sheikh Naim Qassem as a secretary-general, who will carry the blessed banner in this path.”

“We ask Allah the almighty to bless him in this noble mission to lead Hezbollah and the Islamic Resistance, the statement read.

“We promise Allah the almighty, the spirit of our holiest martyr Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, the martyrs, and the fighters of the Islamic Resistance as well as our steadfast, patient and loyal people to work together in a bid to stick to Hezbollah’s principles, achieve the goals of its path and keep the banner of the resistance raised high until the victory,” Hezbollah added, concluding with the Quranic verse “Allah’s will always prevails.”

Who Is Sheikh Naim Qassem?

Sheikh Qassem, 71, was one of Hezbollah’s founders in 1982 and has been the party’s deputy secretary-general since 1991, the year before Sayyed Nasrallah took the helm.

Originally from the southern village of Kfar Fila, he was born in Beirut in 1953. He was appointed deputy secretary general under Hezbollah’s late secretary general, Sayyed Abbas Al-Mousawi, who was assassinated by the Israeli enemy on February 16, 1992, and remained in the post when Nasrallah became leader.

Since martyrdom of Sayyed Nasrallah on September 27, 2024, in brutal Israeli raids on Beirut’s Dahiyeh (southern suburb), Sheikh Qassme has been Hezbollah’s acting leader. Since then, he appeared in three televised speeches via Al-Manar. In his latest speech, on October 15, Sheikh Qassem declared that Hezbollah has started a new phase of the war with the Zionist entity, calling this phase, “hurting the enemy.”

Source: Al-Manar English Website