Hezbollah has named its new leader, filling the vacancy in what may be the most hazardous job on Earth.
The terrorist group announced on Tuesday that Islamic cleric Naim Qassem would take the reins of the organization after serving as its deputy secretary-general for decades.
At 71 years old, the elderly Hezbollah founding member is among the last remaining officials able to offer continuity in the group’s leadership after a series of assassinations conducted by the Israel Defense Forces.
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Former Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah was killed in a September airstrike on the terrorist group’s headquarters in the Lebanese capital city of Beirut.
Nasrallah served as the top leader of Hezbollah for nearly three decades, and his death rattled the upper echelons of the terrorist group as the vacuum in leadership threatened to disrupt its operations.
Hashem Safieddine, a cousin of Nasrallah, was a high-profile understudy for the secretary-general during his decades of leadership. He filled in for his cousin on multiple occasions before his demise and was expected to step into his shoes.
Safieddine was killed alongside more than two dozen other Hezbollah members in an airstrike in the Dahieh area of Beirut last month.
Many of Hezbollah’s other commanders have been killed in the Israeli bombing campaign on the terrorist group’s infrastructure in Lebanon, making the selection of a new leader difficult as the pool of candidates shrinks.
High-ranking Hezbollah leaders who have been eliminated in recent months include deputy head of the central council Nabil Qaouk, Radwan Forces leader Ibrahim Aqil, and Cmdr. Ahmad Wehbe.
Qassem was reportedly elected for leadership by Hezbollah’s consultative Shura Council, which announced Tuesday it was “entrusting him with the blessed banner on this journey.”
“We pray to the Almighty to grant him success in this honorable mission of leading Hezbollah and its Islamic resistance,” the council said in its statement.
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Qassem’s location is unknown, but he has given three video addresses since the death of Nasrallah.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was curt in his response to Qassem’s elevation, posting a picture of the new leader to social media with a short caption: “Temporary appointment. Not for long.”
