Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general, Sheikh Naim Qassem, who has been a prominent figure in the Iran-backed group for over 30 years, was elected as its head on Tuesday.
In a televised address from an undisclosed location on October 8, Qassem stated that the conflict with Israel was a “war about who cries first,” asserting that Hezbollah would not be the first to do so. He claimed the group’s capabilities remain intact despite suffering “painful blows” from Israel. Notably, he expressed support for efforts by parliament speaker Nabih Berri—a Hezbollah ally—to secure a ceasefire, marking the first time he omitted mentioning a Gaza truce deal as a precondition for halting hostilities against Israel.
Qassem’s 30-minute speech followed the suspected targeting of senior Hezbollah figure Hashem Safieddine in an Israeli strike and came 11 days after the death of Hezbollah’s secretary general, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, which was confirmed by the group on October 23.
Qassem was appointed deputy chief in 1991 by the then-secretary general Abbas al-Musawi, who was killed by an Israeli helicopter strike the following year. He remained in his position when Nasrallah took over and has long served as a leading spokesperson for Hezbollah, frequently engaging with international media amid ongoing cross-border hostilities with Israel.
His October 8 address was his second since tensions escalated between Hezbollah and Israel in September, and he was the first member of Hezbollah’s top leadership to speak publicly after Nasrallah’s killing in an Israeli airstrike on September 27. On September 30, Qassem stated that Hezbollah would choose a successor to Nasrallah “at the earliest opportunity” and vowed to continue fighting Israel in solidarity with Palestinians, acknowledging that the struggle may be prolonged.
Born in 1953 in Beirut to a family from southern Lebanon, Qassem’s political activism began with the Shi’ite Amal Movement. He left the group in 1979 following Iran’s Islamic Revolution, which significantly influenced many young Lebanese Shi’ite activists. He participated in discussions that led to the formation of Hezbollah, established with support from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in response to the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
Since Hezbollah first contested parliamentary elections in 1992, Qassem has been the general coordinator of its election campaigns. In 2005, he published a history of Hezbollah, offering a rare insider’s perspective on the organization. Unlike Nasrallah and Safieddine, who wear black turbans indicating their descent from the Prophet Muhammad, Qassem wears a white turban.
