Hezbollah’s secretary general Naim Qassem said the Iran-backed group “absolutely rejects” the peace talks scheduled to take place between Israel and Lebanon tomorrow.

Qassem asked Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to back down from the negotiations, which will be mediated by the US, arguing that Israeli attacks against the country have continued with US support.

He also highlighted that the group believes Israel’s real objective with its attacks on Lebanon is to annex the entire country as part of its “Greater Israel” project. 

Greater Israel is a political and religious ideology that a majority of the Middle East should be part of the state of Israel.

Who is Naim Qassem?

Qassem was appointed as secretary general in October 2024 after the previous incumbent Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated a month earlier.

The 73-year-old was always seen as the perennial “number two” in the group, an effective operator in a supportive role.

Having helped establish Hezbollah – a militant group that’s separate to the Lebanese government but does run parts of the country – in the early 1980s, he rose to the role of deputy chief in 1991, becoming one of the group’s most important clerics, who guided its religious and ideological direction.

Qassem was one of Hezbollah’s leading spokesmen when it began fighting Israel in October 2023 at the outbreak of the war in Gaza, giving interviews to both regional and foreign media.