The Hezbollah movement in Lebanon declared on Tuesday that Naim Qassem, its deputy leader, has been selected to take Hassan Nasrallah’s place as leader following his death in an Israeli assault on south Beirut last month.

In a statement released more than a month after Nasrallah’s murder, the Iran-backed organisation announced, “Hezbollah’s (governing) Shura Council agreed to elect… Sheikh Naim Qassem as secretary general of Hezbollah.”

After full-scale conflict broke out on September 23, Hezbollah promised to keep “the flame of resistance burning” until victory over Israel was attained.

Israel swiftly retaliated, with Defence Minister Yoav Gallant cautioning that Qassem’s appointment was “not for long” in a post on X.

Gallant stated that the “countdown has begun” in a different social media post written in Hebrew.

Two days before to Tuesday’s announcement, Qassem was chosen by the group’s principal decision-making body, the five-member Shura Council, according to a Hezbollah-affiliated source.

A new Shura Council will be chosen following the conflict, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not permitted to address the media.

According to the source, the council may then decide to retain Qassem in the top position or pick a new leader.

Nasrallah, a tall commander and one of the most mysterious and powerful people in the Middle East, has long dominated Qassem’s operations.

The leader of Hezbollah’s executive council, Hashem Safieddine, was first predicted to succeed Nasrallah.

Shortly after Nasrallah’s death, however, he was also murdered in an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Qassem’s victory was praised by Hamas, the Palestinian ally of Hezbollah whose October 7, 2023 attack on Israel set off the Gaza Strip war.

In a statement, Hamas said that it “considers this election evidence of the party’s recovery from the targeting” of its leaders and promised “support for the new leadership.”

The 71-year-old Qassem was a founding member of Hezbollah in 1982 and had served as the party’s deputy secretary general since 1991, the year before Nasrallah assumed leadership.

He was born in 1953 in Beirut to a family from the Israeli border hamlet of Kfar Fila.

He was the highest ranking Hezbollah figure to remain in public after Nasrallah mostly disappeared during the organization’s 2006 conflict with Israel.

Speaking in formal Arabic rather than the informal Lebanese that Nasrallah used, Qassem has given three broadcast speeches since Nasrallah was killed in a massive Israeli airstrike on September 27.

Qassem, who lacked Nasrallah’s charm and oratory abilities, stated that the organisation will soon appoint a new head.

He asserted that Hezbollah’s military capabilities were intact and supported Nabih Berri, the speaker of the Lebanese parliament, in his attempts to mediate a truce.

Qassem stated in his last address on October 15 that Israel could not ensure the return of its citizens to the north unless there was a truce.

After shooting clashes across the border for over a year, the Israel-Hezbollah conflict broke out last month.

Israel increased its attacks on Hezbollah strongholds and deployed ground soldiers on September 23, killing a succession of the organization’s top commanders.

An AFP tally of health ministry records shows that since September 23, the fighting has killed over 1,700 people in Lebanon; however, the actual number is probably higher because of data gaps.

Since it started its operations in Lebanon on September 30, Israel’s military claims to have lost 37 troops in the conflict.