Beirut
\nLebanon\u2019s resistance movement Hezbollah has appointed Naim Qassem as its interim leader following the martyrdom of Hassan Nasrallah in Israeli airstrikes on Beirut, according to media reports.
\nNasrallah, who was killed alongside his daughter Zeinab and senior leader Ali Karaki in the Israeli airstrikes, has been succeeded temporarily by Qassem, a long-standing figure in the organisation.
\nReports suggest that Hashem Safi al-Din, who currently heads Hezbollah\u2019s Executive Council, is likely to be appointed as the new permanent leader. Safi al-Din is also a member of Hezbollah\u2019s Jihad Council, which oversees the group\u2019s military operations.
\nHashem Safi al-Din has close family ties with Nasrallah, which has further fuelled speculation that he will take on the leadership role.
\nYesterday, the Israeli military had stated that it had killed Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike on the group\u2019s central headquarters in the southern suburbs of Beirut a day earlier. Later, Hezbollah also confirmed that Nasrallah was killed.
\nHis death would not only mark an enormous blow to Hezbollah, but also to Iran, whose Revolutionary Guards founded the group in 1982. The Israeli military \u201celiminated … Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Hezbollah terrorist organization,\u201d Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote in a statement on X.
\nAnother top Hezbollah leader\u2013Ali Karaki\u2013was also killed, he added.
\n\u201cHassan Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorise the world,\u201d the Israeli military said in a separate post.
\nFriday\u2019s attack on Hezbollah\u2019s command centre, followed by further airstrikes on Saturday, have escalated the conflict between Israel and the heavily armed group, adding to concerns the region could be sucked into a broader war.
\nAdraee\u2019s statement, posted in Arabic, said Israel had struck Hezbollah\u2019s underground headquarters while its leadership were \u201ccoordinating terrorist activities against the citizens of Israel\u201d.
\nLate on Friday, a source close to Hezbollah told Reuters that Nasrallah was not reachable.
\nIn the first hours after Friday\u2019s strike, a source close to Hezbollah told Reuters that Nasrallah was alive. Iran\u2019s Tasnim news agency also reported he was safe. A senior Iranian security official told Reuters that Tehran was checking his status.
\nIsrael followed up on Friday\u2019s attack with a new wave of airstrikes on Beirut\u2019s southern suburbs and other areas of Lebanon on Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Beirut Lebanon\u2019s resistance movement Hezbollah has appointed Naim Qassem as its interim leader following the martyrdom of Hassan Nasrallah in Israeli airstrikes on Beirut, according to media reports. Nasrallah, who was killed alongside his daughter Zeinab and senior leader Ali Karaki in the Israeli airstrikes, has been succeeded temporarily by Qassem, a long-standing figure in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434320,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-434295","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n