The current secretary-general of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem.
In a letter, Hezbollah fighters announced that they had pledged their allegiance to the party's new secretary-general, Sheikh Naim Qassem, who was elected on Oct. 29 to succeed Hassan Nasrallah. The party's charismatic leader since the early 1990s, Nasrallah was killed on Sept. 27 by a massive strike by the Israeli army on the southern suburbs of Beirut. His designated successor, his cousin Hashem Safieddine, was also killed in a strike last month. The party confirmed his death on Oct. 23.
In their letter, which was released by the party, Hezbollah fighters promise to embody "the supreme right hand" of the new secretary-general, to effectively implement his decisions, to fulfill his "promises" and to be the "righteous arrow in the liver of the enemies of God and humanity."
"We renew our oath of allegiance to your eminence and reaffirm our alliance with Allah, his Prophet and his family, by adhering to the path of our most holy martyr, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah," it read.
Hezbollah and the Israeli army have been fighting since Oct. 8, 2023, the day after the outbreak of the Gaza war between Hamas and Israel. But the clashes, which were primarily limited to south Lebanon and some areas of the Bekaa, have degenerated into all-out war since the end of the summer.
In a new general assessment of the Israeli war against the party, the Ministry of Health said 3,136 were killed and 13,979 wounded, including 19 killed and 91 wounded on Friday alone.
Just hours after Qassem was elected Hezbollah secretary-general, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant posted his photo on his X account, along with the message: “A temporary appointment … not for long.”
Gallant’s successor, Israel Katz, said that Israel would “ensure” that Qassem would follow in Nasrallah’s footsteps.