Naim Qassem to head Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah

Lebanese armed group Hezbollah on Oct 29 announced its new head Naim Qassem as former Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah's successor who was killed in an Israeli air attack on Beirut's southern suburb more than a month ago.

The group released a written statement in which it stated that its Shura Council elected Qassem, 71, through its established process for choosing a secretary general.

Qassem was appointed as Hezbollah's deputy chief in 1991 by the armed group's then-secretary general Abbas al-Musawi, who was killed by an Israeli helicopter attack in 1992.

He has long been one of Hezbollah's leading spokesmen and has conducted interviews with foreign media as cross-border hostilities with Israel raged over the last year.

Nasrallah was killed on Sep 27 in an Israeli airstrike, following which senior Hezbollah figure Hashem Safieddine, who was the most likely successor of the Iran-backed group was also killed in an Israeli airstrike.

Following Nasrallah's assassination, Qassem has appeared in three televised addresses, including one on Oct 8 in which he said the armed group supported efforts to reach a ceasefire for Lebanon.

Meanwhile, Israel continues to batter Lebanon with the latest airstrike on Oct 28 that killed 7 in a district in the southern port of Tyre, the Lebanese health ministry said.

Lebanon's health authority said that in the past year, Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed 2,710 people and injured 12,592.

Israel said it bombed anti-tank missile depots of Hezbollah and other arms assets in Tyre for the second time in the past few days.

Netanyahu's bombing campaign and continuing evacuation warnings have made ghost towns of much of southern Lebanon, including Tyre, leaving everything in ruins.

Hezbollah, an ally of Palestinian fighter group Hamas carried out a series of attacks on Israeli troops within Lebanese territory and on military targets within Israel.

The group said it had struck a military equipment factory southeast of Acre, However, there were no reports of damage or casualties.