What do we know about Hezbollah’s new leader, Naim Qassem?

Hezbollah’s new secretary-general is Naim Qassem, the longtime number two to the late Hassan Nasrallah who was assassinated by Israel on September 27.

Hezbollah announced the appointment on Tuesday via its Telegram channel.

Who is Naim Qassem?

Qassem has a long history in Shia political activism and has been deputy secretary-general of Hezbollah since 1991 when Abbas al-Musawi was secretary-general.

Al-Musawi was also assassinated by Israel.

“He was hoping to become Hezbollah’s secretary-general when Musawi was killed in 1992,” Nicholas Blanford, a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Middle East programme, told Al Jazeera.

Has Qassem always been with Hezbollah?

Not always.

In the 1970s, he joined the late Imam Musa al-Sadr’s Movement of the Dispossessed, which eventually became part of the Amal Movement in Lebanon.

What has his role been in Hezbollah?

The secretive nature of Hezbollah means only some of Qassem’s roles are public knowledge.

At one point, he oversaw part of Hezbollah’s educational network and has also been involved in overseeing the group’s parliamentary activities.

He has played an important public-facing role in Hezbollah over the years, and is also a member of the group’s Shura Council.

He famously published a book called, Hizbullah, the Story from Within, in 2005, which was translated into several languages.