OPINION: Kassem was the only choice for Hezbollah – Israel has killed the rest

October 29, 2024

Naim Kassem is “pretty much the only” senior figure left in Hezbollah who could have been chosen as the group’s new leader, says Middle East-based news correspondent Alistair Bunkall.

The 71-year-old replaces Hassan Nasrallah as Hezbollah’s leader after he was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Beirut last month.

Senior Hezbollah figure Hashem Safieddine, considered to be Nasrallah’s most likely successor, was killed in another Israeli strike a week later.

Mr Kassem has been operating as Hezbollah’s acting leader since Nasrallah’s death.

“He’s pretty much the only very senior figure within Hezbollah who has not been killed by the Israelis over the last month or so,” says Bunkall.

“I think he’s in Iran at the moment, having escaped Lebanon to go into exile in Iran. And he will lead the group from there.

“But the group will be severely diminished in terms of its leadership because of Israeli actions and the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon.”

Israel is continuing its military operations in Gaza and Lebanon, in an attempt to root out Iran-backed militants belonging to Hamas and Hezbollah;
In northern Gaza, where Israel has been conducting a fresh offensive in the in recent weeks, 60 people have been killed following an airstrike in Beit Lahiya, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry;
In Lebanon, the country’s health ministry says yesterday’s strikes on several areas of the eastern Bekaa Valley area killed 60 people. The region’s governor called the attacks the “most violent” in the area since Israel invaded Lebanon last month;
Hezbollah has appointed its deputy secretary-general Naim Kassem as its new leader, succeeding Hassan Nasrallah after he was assassinated in Beirut last month. Mr Kassem had been Hezbollah’s acting leader since the death of Nasrallah;
Israel has received condemnation from the US, UK and other Western nations following its decision yesterday to ban the UN relief and works agency for Palestinian refugees from the country.