The Israeli government has reacted to the announcement of a new leader by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah saying, Naim Qassem‘s tenure “may be the shortest”
Daily Intel reported that Hezbollah appointed Qassem as successor to Hassan Nasrallah who was killed in an Israeli air attack over a month ago.
The group in a written statement on Tuesday said its Shura Council elected Qassem, 71, in accordance with established mechanism for choosing a secretary general.
But reacting to the announcement, the Israeli government said via official Arabic x handle that the solution to end the conflict with Hezbollah is to “dismantle the organisation as military force”, vowing that Qassem may be group’s shortest leader unless he did not follow in the footsteps of his predecessors Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine.
The posted reads: “His tenure in this position may be the shortest in the history of this terrorist organization if he follows in the footsteps of his predecessors Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine.”
“There is no solution in Lebanon except to dismantle this organization as a military force,” it wrote.
Qassem was appointed Hezbollah’s deputy chief in 1991 by the armed group’s then-secretary general Abbas al-Musawi, who was killed by an Israeli helicopter attack the following year.
Qassem remained in his role when Nasrallah became leader, and has long been one of Hezbollah’s leading spokesmen, conducting interviews with foreign media, including as cross-border hostilities with Israel raged over the last year.
Nasrallah was killed on Sept. 27, and senior Hezbollah figure Hashem Safieddine – considered the most likely successor – was killed in Israeli strikes a week later.
Since Nasrallah’s killing, Qassem has given three televised addresses, including one on Oct. 8 in which he said the armed group supported efforts to reach a ceasefire for Lebanon.
He is considered by many in Lebanon to lack the charisma and gravitas of Nasrallah.
