BEIRUT, October 29. /TASS/. Naim Qasem, the deputy chief of Hezbollah, has been appointed as the new leader of the Lebanese group.

"The Shura Council (Hezbollah’s main decision-making body - TASS) has agreed to designate Sheikh Naim Qasem as the movement’s new secretary-general," the group announced in a statement.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry commented that Qasem may not remain in the position for long unless he initiates a significant shift in the movement’s policy. "Hezbollah has named Naim Qasem as its new secretary-general. If he follows in the footsteps of his predecessors, Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine, his tenure may be the shortest in the organization’s history," the Israeli diplomatic agency stated in an Arabic post on Facebook (a social media platform banned in Russia due to its ownership by the Meta corporation, which is classified as extremist by Russian authorities).

Israel has conducted extensive airstrikes on Hezbollah military targets since launching Operation Northern Arrows in Lebanon on September 23. The group’s former Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on September 27. Hezbollah has confirmed his death and vowed to continue its efforts to confront Israel.