Qassem, a cleric and founding member of the Lebanese militant group, was named on Tuesday to replace former longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli air strike on Beirut in late September. Qassem had served as Nasrallah’s deputy for more than three decades.

Several other high-ranking officials with the group, including Nasrallah’s presumptive successor, Hashem Safieddine, have also been killed in recent weeks, as war has escalated in Lebanon.

Qassem said the series of blows dealt to the group in recent weeks – including pager and walkie-talkie explosions that targeted Hezbollah members in mid-September and the assassination of Nasrallah – had “hurt” the group, but he asserted that the group had been able to reorganise its ranks within eight days of Nasrallah’s death.

“Hezbollah’s capabilities are still available and compatible with a long war,” he said. He pointed to the steady stream of Israeli soldiers wounded and killed in southern Lebanon since Israeli forces launched a ground invasion on October 1, and to a drone launched by Hezbollah that hit the home of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this month. Netanyahu was not harmed.

He said Hezbollah has been in co-ordination with the Lebanese Parliament’s Speaker Nabih Berri, the primary Lebanese interlocutor communicating with the United States, which has put forward a series of proposals to end the conflict.

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“So far no project has been put forward that Israel agrees on and is acceptable for us to negotiate it,” Qassem said.

Qassem said Hezbollah was carrying out plans laid out by its slain former leader in the ongoing war.

There was no immediate Israeli response to the speech, though several Israeli leaders have hinted that Qassem is Israel’s next high-level assassination target. On Tuesday, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant tweeted a picture of Qassem with the words: “Temporary appointment. Not for long.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Israel would “ensure” that Qassem follows in Nasrallah’s footsteps.

As Qassem was speaking, a series of Israeli air strikes pounded the eastern city of Baalbek. The Lebanese Health Ministry said the strikes killed at least 19 people.

Baalbek, known for its ancient Roman temple complex, was the subject of an Israeli evacuation warning earlier on Wednesday. The Israeli military said it was targeting sites connected to Hezbollah.

Eleven people, including three women, were killed in one strike on Salibi Farm in the Baalbek area, and eight others – including five women – were killed in another strike in the area of Bednayel, the health ministry said in a statement.

The health ministry also said 30 people had been killed over the past 24 hours and 165 others were wounded, raising the total toll in Lebanon over the past year of conflict between Hezbollah and Israel to 2822 killed and 12,937 wounded.

AP

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