Trending Now
We have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for Eurasia Group and its affiliates, including GZERO Media, to clarify the types of data we collect, how we collect it, how we use data and with whom we share data. By using our website you consent to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, including the transfer of your personal data to the United States from your country of residence, and our use of cookies described in our Cookie Policy.
{{ subpage.title }}
Lebanon's Hezbollah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Kassem speaks during an interview with Reuters in Beirut's suburbs, Lebanon November 22, 2019.
Will Hezbollah’s new leader give peace a chance?
Hezbollah on Tuesday named cleric Naim Kassem, 71, as its new leader. Kassem was a longtime deputy of Hezbollah’s previous leader, Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike last month.
Kassem inherits Nasrallah’s job at a precarious moment for Hezbollah, which has been fighting with Israel since Hamas attacked the Jewish state last October. The conflict escalated when Israel launched a ground invasion of Lebanon earlier this month.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant responded to Kassem’s appointment by posting his picture to X with the caption, “Temporary appointment. Not for long.”
Mixed signals. Kassem has often been the public face of the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group, a role that’s increased since Nasrallah’s death.
On Oct. 8, Kassem gave a speech in which he expressed support for a cease-fire in Lebanon, without explicitly linking a truce to an end of the Gaza war — a condition upon which Hezbollah previously insisted. But in another speech on Oct. 15, Kassem signaled Hezbollah wouldn’t agree to a deal that didn’t include an end to Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
In the days ahead, we’ll be watching to see if Kassem takes a clearer position on a cease-fire now that he’s officially the new voice of Hezbollah.