Hezbollah Chief Naim Qassem Says Truce Talks Possible Only if Israel Stops Aggression

Tehran: Hezbollah Chief Naim Qassem on Wednesday said that the only way truce talks between the Lebanese Armed and Israel are possible on the battlefield and no political moves.

"I will tell you very clearly, our conviction is that only one thing can stop this war of aggression, and that is the battlefield," said Qassem in a pre-recorded televised address, adding that he did not believe "political action" would bring an end to the more than year-conflict with Israel.

"When the enemy decides to stop the aggression, there is a path for negotiations that we have clearly defined - indirect negotiations through the Lebanese state and Speaker (of parliament Nabih) Berri," the Hezbollah Chief added.

Further, he emphasised that these talks could only proceed if they guaranteed "the protection of Lebanese sovereignty in full, without anything missing;" however, he did not provide any further details.

Qasem was elected as Hezbollah's secretary general after his predecessor Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was killed in Israeli Strikes.

Who is Naim Qassem?

Naim Qassem emerged as the head of the Iran-backed militant group since the killing of Nasrallah. The 71-year-old was appointed Hezbollah's deputy chief in 1991 before Nasrallah took the helm. Qassem was appointed as deputy chief by the armed group's then-secretary general Abbas al-Musawi, who was eliminated by an Israeli helicopter attack the following year.

As per media reports, Qassem is believed to oversee part of Hezbollah’s educational network and has also been involved in overseeing its parliamentary activities. The militant group, in a written statement, said that its Shura Council had elected Qassem by its established mechanism for choosing a secretary general. Following Nasrallah's killing, reports suggested that senior Hezbollah leader Hashem Safieddine would take over the reign. However, he too was killed in Israeli strikes a week later.

Post Nasrallah's assassination, Qassem has given three televised addresses, including one on October 8 in which he said the armed group supported efforts to reach a ceasefire for Lebanon. Qaseem was born in Beirut in 1953 in the town of Kfar Fila in southern Lebanon. He studied Chemistry at the Lebanese University before working for several years as a chemistry teacher. He led the Association for Islamic Religious Education from 1974-1988 and was also the founding member of the Lebanese Union of Muslim Students. Later, Qassem rose to the level of Secretary General after Abbas al-Musawi's assassination in 1992. A prolific writer, Qaseem is the author of "Hizbullah: The Story from Within"