Atlanta, GA – On October 29, Hezbollah announced the election of Sheikh Naim Qassem as the party’s new secretary-general. Qassem is the successor to Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated by Israeli forces in an airstrike last month.

In a public statement, Hezbollah’s leading body, the Shura Council, recognized that the election of Sheikh Qassem represents a reaffirmation of the group’s long-standing commitment to defending Lebanon’s national sovereignty and the cause of Palestinian liberation.

The announcement comes at a time when Hezbollah is leading the resistance to an ongoing U.S.-backed Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon. This invasion, which is intimately connected with the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people, aims to stamp out popular resistance to Zionism in the region and conquer neighboring territory as part of an insane “Greater Israel” scheme by the Netanyahu regime.

Last month, Hezbollah confirmed the assassination of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in an apocalyptic Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburb. Israeli forces, equipped with F-35 jets and 85 tons of explosive ordinance provided by the United States, bombed a neighborhood block and slaughtered dozens of civilian families in an attempt to eliminate Hezbollah’s leadership. Hezbollah mourned Nasrallah as a heroic martyr who led Lebanon’s resistance with unwavering courage and determination.

But neither the death of Nasrallah nor the barbaric Israeli pager attack days earlier, which killed and wounded hundreds, have dismantled the resistance movement. Hezbollah fighters and other national democratic forces have repelled attempts by Israeli troops to penetrate into southern Lebanon. Israel has experienced heavy losses, both in troops and equipment, with more than 70 dead and 600 injured, along “with the destruction of 28 Merkava tanks, four military bulldozers, an armored vehicle, and a troop carrier,” according to a field report summary released by Hezbollah. Equally significant, Israel has sustained serious losses at its own bases, military sites and barracks within its own border lines as a result of the Lebanese incursion. At each step, Israel’s would-be occupation forces are meeting fierce resistance by the people of Lebanon, making forward motion nearly impossible.

Qassem inheriting Nasrallah’s legacy

The legacy Sheikh Qassem inherits as Secretary-General of Hezbollah is profound. Under Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s leadership, Hezbollah grew from a national resistance movement in Lebanon into a major anti-imperialist force in the Middle East. They helped steer the liberation of southern Lebanon in 2000 and defeated Israel’s savage assault on the country in 2006. When the Syrian Arab Republic faced a sustained, U.S.-backed regime change campaign in the early 2010s, Hezbollah came to Syria’s aid, helping defeat imperialist-backed proxy militias as well as the right-wing Islamic State (IS) on the battlefield. In doing so, they strengthened the anti-imperialist camp of resistance in the Middle East.

By all accounts, Sheikh Qassem is expected to continue this tradition of principled anti-imperialism and international solidarity, specifically in continuing to support the Palestinian resistance to the ongoing Zionist genocide.

Who is Sheikh Naim Qassem?

Well-known within Hezbollah and Lebanon as a whole, Sheikh Naim Qassem played a significant role in the party’s founding and development. Born in 1953 to a Shi’a family in Beirut, Qassem has his roots in southern Lebanon's Iqlim al-Tuffah region, an area long associated with the resistance to the Israeli occupation that lasted nearly two decades.

Holding academic degrees in both chemistry and theology, he was involved in student politics at the Lebanese University and, later, political and cultural activism in Lebanon. After the 1982 Israeli invasion, he became part of Hezbollah’s founding circle and rose within the newly formed party’s ranks, serving as Deputy Secretary-General since 1991.

Qassem’s many writings on Hezbollah’s political and military strategy, as well as the party’s history, continue to guide the organization’s orientation as a resistance force. His most celebrated work, Hezbollah: The Story From Within, is still widely read by party members and others today.

The most significant takeaway of Sheik Qassem’s elevation is that it signals Hezbollah’s will to fight back, even in the face of the criminal imperialist-backed Zionist war on Lebanon. The party’s leadership announcement means continuity with the liberation theology of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, which cannot be bought or intimidated into submission. In 2011, Qassem famously told a reporter, “Billions of dollars have been offered to us to rebuild the deprived south Lebanon and in return to surrender our arms and stop the work of the resistance. But we told them we're not in need, and the resistance will go on regardless of the consequences.

Palestinian resistance offers support, congratulations

The Palestinian resistance has voiced support for Qassem’s elevation to leadership of Hezbollah. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other groups have reiterated their support for Hezbollah and offered congratulations to Sheikh Qassem on his election.

The PFLP, an important Marxist-Leninist party in Palestine, called Qassem’s election a “remarkable succession process” that signals Hezbollah’s ability to overcome external challenges. They noted, “The election of Sheikh Naim Qassem reaffirms Hezbollah's strength, resilience, and ability to renew its leadership.” Selecting Qassem, the PFLP writes, “is a clear challenge to the occupation and a blow to the illusions of Israel and the U.S., which have repeatedly tried to weaken Hezbollah through assassinations and targeting its leadership.”

Hamas – an acronym meaning Islamic Resistance Movement – expressed its solidarity too, describing Sheikh Qassem’s election as evidence of Hezbollah’s resilience and praised the new Secretary-General as a “relentless fighter” for the liberation of Palestine.

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