Lebanon's Hezbollah movement announced Tuesday it has chosen deputy head Naim Qassem to succeed Hasan Nasrallah as leader after his death in an Israeli strike on south Beirut last month.
"Hezbollah's (governing) Shura Council agreed to elect... Sheikh Naim Qassem as secretary general of Hezbollah," the Iran-backed group said in a statement, more than a month after Nasrallah's killing.
Hashem Safieddine, the head of Hezbollah's executive council, was initially tipped to succeed Nasrallah.
But he too was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs shortly after Nasrallah's assassination.
Qassem, 71, was one of Hezbollah's founders in 1982 and has been the party's deputy secretary general since 1991, the year before Nasrallah took the helm.
He was born in Beirut in 1953 to a family from the village of Kfar Fila on the border with Israel.
He was the most senior Hezbollah official to continue making public appearances after Nasrallah largely went into hiding following the group's 2006 war with Israel.
Since Nasrallah's death in a huge Israeli air strike on September 27, Qassem has made three televised addresses, speaking in more formal Arabic than the colloquial Lebanese favoured by Nasrallah.
Hezbollah veteran long in slain predecessor's shadow
Naim Qassem, 71, was one of Hezbollah's founders in 1982 and had been the party's deputy secretary general since 1991, before being thrust into the top job by Israel's killing of Hassan Nasrallah.
Qassem, a member of the group's governing Shura Council, had long operated in the shadow of Nasrallah, a towering leader who was one of the most enigmatic and influential figures in the Middle East.
He was named as Hezbollah's new leader on Tuesday, more than a month after Nasrallah's killing in a huge Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburbs.
Hezbollah said Qassem was elected by the Shura Council as it pledged to keep "the flame of resistance burning" until victory is achieved against Israel.
He was born in Beirut in 1953 to a family from the village of Kfar Fila on the border with Israel.
Qassem's political career began with the Amal Movement, a Hezbollah ally.
He left Amal in 1979 on the heels of the Islamic revolution in Iran which was a precursor to the formation of Hezbollah three years later.
He was appointed deputy secretary general under Hezbollah's then secretary general Abbas al-Musawi, who was killed by an Israeli helicopter attack in 1992.
He remained in the role when Nasrallah became leader.
Qassem was not initially tipped to succeed Nasrallah.
Hashem Safieddine, the head of Hezbollah's executive council, was believed to be in line for the top post.
But he too was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs shortly after Nasrallah's assassination.
- Public figure -
Qassem wears the white turban of a Shiite Muslim religious cleric and has a white beard.
He was the most senior Hezbollah official to make public appearances after Nasrallah largely went into hiding following the group's 2006 war with Israel.
Qassem has regularly appeared in public and frequently held interviews with foreign media outlets.
Just days before Nasrallah's assassination, he gave a defiant speech at the funeral of a slain Hezbollah commander in Beirut's southern suburbs.
Since Nasrallah's death in a huge Israeli air strike in the area on September 27, Qassem has made three televised addresses, speaking in more formal Arabic than the colloquial Lebanese favoured by his predecessor.
In his first speech after Nasrallah´s killing, he appeared stressed, sweating profusely, in a dark-lit room with wooden panels in the background.
With less charisma and fewer oratorical skillsthan Nasrallah, Qassem said the group would soon replace its assassinated leader.
In later speeches, he claimed Hezbollah's military capabilities were intact and backed efforts by parliament speaker Nabih Berri to broker a ceasefire.
Married with six children, Qassem studied and taught chemistry in Lebanon before turning to politics.
Qassem has published a number of books on religious, cultural and political issues, according to biographical details on his website.
He speaks English and was charged with overseeing Hezbollah's participation in government and parliament.
"He is kind-hearted, very affectionate and a brilliant thinker," said one of his acquaintances who requested anonymity.
"He has the ability to convince others," he said.
55 Gazans killed in Israel air strike
Gaza's civil defence agency said Tuesday that an overnight Israeli air strike killed more than 55 people in a residential building in the northern district of Beit Lahia.
"More than 55 people have been martyred and dozens more wounded are under the rubble of a five-storey residential building belonging to the Abu Nasr family that was hit by the Israeli occupation last night in Beit Lahia," agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.
The Israeli military said it was "looking into the reports".
"The explosion happened at night and I first thought it was shelling, but when I went out after sunrise I saw people pulling bodies, limbs and the wounded from under the rubble," said Rabie al-Shandagly, 30, who had taken refuge in a nearby school in Beit Lahia.
"Most of the victims are women and children, and people are trying to save the injured, but there are no hospitals or proper medical care," he told AFP.
The bodies of 15 people killed in the strike were brought to Kamal Adwan Hospital, its director Hussam Abu Safia told AFP.
He said 35 wounded people, most of them children, were being treated at the hospital.
"We are still receiving a number of martyrs and wounded," Safia said, adding that the hospital was struggling to treat patients due to a lack of staff and medicines.
"There is nothing left in the Kamal Adwan Hospital except first aid materials after the army arrested our medical team and workers when they invaded the hospital during the military operation in Jabalia," Safia said.
Last week, the Gaza health ministry said Israeli troops had stormed the hospital, while the Israeli military said it was operating around it.
"The enemy has committed another horrific massacre against our people, and northern Gaza is being subjected to a campaign of ethnic cleansing and systematic displacement," Hamas said in a statement condemning the Beit Lahia attack.
Since October 6, the military has conducted a sweeping air and ground assault in northern Gaza, particularly in the areas of Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, in what it describes as an operation to prevent Hamas militants from regrouping.
In a statement issued on Tuesday morning, the military said it had carried out several ground and air strikes in Jabalia over the past day, killing around 40 militants.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been forced to flee northern Gaza since the onslaught began, while the civil defence agency has reported hundreds of deaths.