Beirut, 29 October 2024 (dpa/MIA) - The pro-Iranian Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah said on Tuesday they had chosen deputy chief Naim Qassem to lead the group, four weeks after the killing of the previous secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah.

Since Nasrallah's death, Qassem has given several speeches that were broadcast on television. It is unclear where he is currently.

Hezbollah's Shura Council elected Qassem to the post in accordance with the "recognized procedure for the election of the general secretary," the Shiite militia announced. Qassem is now leading Hezbollah and the Islamic Resistance on a "noble mission." The militia announced that it would continue to pursue its previous goals under the new leader "until victory is achieved."

Israel's army killed Nasrallah in an airstrike on a southern suburb of Beirut at the end of September. Since then, Hashem Safieddine, the head of Hezbollah's Executive Council, has been considered a possible successor.

Last week, however, the militia confirmed that he had been killed weeks earlier in an attack on the headquarters of the Hezbollah secret service near Beirut, as reported by the Israeli military.

An influential figure within Hezbollah for decades

Qassem was born in a village near Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon and is about 70 years old.

He is one of the members who founded Hezbollah in the early 1980s to fight against the Israeli occupation of Lebanon. Since 1991, he has been deputy head and thus one of the most influential figures within the organization alongside Nasrallah.

Like Nasrallah, Qassem is a cleric of Shia Islam, but he also studied chemistry and French in Lebanon. He is said to have a strong influence on Hezbollah's external image in the media.

In 2004 he published a book about the history of the organization, which also contains autobiographical parts. Qassem is married and has six children.

Israel has massively expanded its airstrikes in Lebanon since September - and has also targeted Hezbollah's leadership several times.

In addition, Israeli troops marched into southern Lebanon last month. Hezbollah has continued to bombard northern Israel almost daily for over a year, including with rockets.

Mohanad Hage Ali, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center think tank who researches Hezbollah, told dpa Nasrallah was an inspirational figure and Qassem will not take his place as he has mainly focused on the "educational part."

Qassem can give a good sermon, but Nasrallah was "a man who spoke the language of the people" and it took him years to reach that point, Hage Ali said.

60 killed in Israeli strikes on eastern Lebanon

At least 60 people, including two children, were killed in Israeli strikes that targeted eastern Lebanon on Monday, the Lebanese Ministry of Health said.

Strikes targeted at least 12 different areas in the provinces of Baalbek-Hermel and Bekaa, leaving 58 people injured.

The toll was not final as rescue teams were still removing rubble.

Baalbek Governor Bashir Khodr wrote on Tuesday on social media platform X that there were 35 strikes on the province in the previous 24 hours.

"Today is the most violent day in Baalbek since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on Lebanon," Khodr posted.

The area is considered a Hezbollah stronghold.

Dozens reported killed in Israeli attack on north Gaza building

Dozens of people have died in an Israeli attack on a residential building in Beit Lahia in the north of the Gaza Strip, according to a report citing residents in the area on Tuesday.

Kamal Adwan Hospital director Hussam Abu Safia said residents had told him that 65 bodies had been found.

Ten bodies had arrived at the hospital, while other bodies were still in the ruins as there were no rescue workers to recover them, Abu Safia said, adding that dozens more had been injured.

The information could not be independently verified, and an Israeli military spokesman said the reports were being investigated.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops have been conducting an intensive operation in the north of the Gaza Strip for weeks in fighting Hamas cells that have been broken up.

Tens of thousands of civilians have fled the area, and the situation with critical supplies is reported to be catastrophic.

Drones from Yemen and Lebanon launched at Israel

A drone launched from Yemen has come down near the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon, the IDF reported on Tuesday after examining fragments of the drone.

It said also that Israeli air defences had intercepted another drone launched from Lebanon towards Western Galilee that had come down in open ground in Nahariya on the coast near the border with Lebanon. Fragments were identified in the area.

Iran to triple defence spending in next annual budget

Iran is to boost military spending radically in the face of increased regional tensions, government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said in Tehran on Tuesday in announcing a 200% increase on the year.

The next budgetary year starts with Persian New Year at the end of March 2025.

Mohajerani did not say how the money would be allocated, and the plans could face criticism among a population suffering the effects of a severe economic crisis and high inflation.

With more than 600,000 active troops and around 350,000 reservists, Iran has one of the largest militaries in the Middle East.

The country has invested heavily in missiles and drones over recent years, while its air defences are seen as relatively weak.

Photo: EPA