Hezbollah is still without a new leader

deputy chief of Hezbollah Sheikh Naim Qassem

Important Takeaways:

  • Hezbollah is still without a new leader, nearly two weeks after its long-serving chief was killed in an Israeli strike and with its deputy head apparently unwilling to step into the role.
  • Hezbollah’s deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem—currently considered the organization’s top official—said in a video address streamed by Iranian news outlet Press TV on Tuesday that a new leader would be elected, suggesting he would not take up the mantle
  • Dahiyeh is described by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) as Hezbollah’s nerve center and de-facto base, and has come under heavy Israeli bombardment in recent weeks.
  • Hezbollah has many branches and commanders at varying levels, many of whom Israel has said it has killed.
  • Israel had reportedly targeted Safieddine late last week, but there had been no confirmation whether he had been killed.
  • As well as Nasrallah and Safieddine, other leading Hezbollah figures reported to have been killed include Ali Karaki, Ibrahim Aqeel and Fu’ad Shakar.
  • On Tuesday, Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant said during a visit to Israel’s northern border with Lebanon that Hezbollah “is an organization without a head,” adding that “Nasrallah was eliminated, his replacement was probably also eliminated.”
  • On Tuesday, the IDF said it had killed Suhail Hussein Husseini, described by the Israeli military as the commander of Hezbollah’s headquarters in Beirut.

Read the original article by clicking here.

“If the Israelis want a ground incursion, the resistance forces are ready for that”

Sheikh-Naim-Qassem

Important Takeaways:

  • Hezbollah’s deputy chief has pledged that the Lebanese armed group is ready to meet an Israeli ground offensive, despite the killing of its leader and many senior commanders.
  • Israel has not hit Hezbollah’s military capabilities, said Sheikh Naim Qassem on Monday as he delivered a message of defiance in a public address.
  • Despite the setbacks suffered during the bombardment of Lebanon in recent days, he insisted that the Iran-linked armed group will continue to fight.
  • Hezbollah’s operations have continued at the same pace and more since the killing of leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday, Qassem asserted
  • For the first time since stepping up its attacks on Lebanon, Israel on Monday struck a central area of the capital Beirut, signaling further potential escalation towards an all-out war.
  • Hezbollah’s insistence that it can defend Lebanon was supported by backer Iran, which appears wary of the risk of a wider regional war that any direct confrontation with Israel would carry.

Read the original article by clicking here.