Who is Naim Qassem? Hezbollah’s key leader who fled war-hit Lebanon for ‘fear of assassination’

Hezbollah deputy secretary general Naim Qassem reportedly fled crisis-hit Lebanon and is now living in Tehran, local media reported on Sunday. The move came amid concerns over Qassem's safety. It is feared Naim Qassem could be a potential assassination target of Israel.

A report by UAE-based Erem News quoted an Iranian source as saying Qassem left Beirut on October 5, on an aircraft that was by Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during a state visit to Lebanon and Syria.

"His transfer was ordered by top leaders of the Islamic Republic for fear of assassination by the Israel government," sources reportedly said. It was reported that Naim Qassem is on the list of those wanted by the Israel; government.

Who is Naim Qassem?

Naim Qassem is Hezbollah's deputy secretary general. On Tuesday, he said the only solution was a ceasefire to the conflict in Lebanon. He had also threatened to expand its missile strikes across Israel.

According to local media, Qassem has delivered three speeches since the death of Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in Lebanon, in an attack on September 27. Hashem Safieddine, who was the possible successor of slained Hezbollah leader Nasrallah, was presumed to dead earlier this October. However, there has been no confirmation on the killing of Safieddine till now.

Naim Qassem is now Hezbollah's top official after its chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli strike.

On October 15, Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem warned Israelis that the only solution to the current war is a ceasefire, saying the Iran-backed group would not be defeated.

According to Reuters, Qassem said he backed efforts by Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, to secure a truce - without setting a precondition. This was for the first time that the end of war in Gaza was not mentioned as a pre-condition to halting the combat in Lebanon.

"We support the political efforts that [Lebanese Parliament Speaker] Nabih Berri is undertaking towards a ceasefire," Qassem said in a televised speech. "Since the Israeli enemy targeted all of Lebanon, we have the right from a defensive position to target any place" in Israel, "whether the centre, the north or the south", Qassem was quoted by news agency AFP as saying.

Qassem said, "I am telling the Israeli home front: the solution is a ceasefire... the resistance [Hezbollah] will not be defeated because this is its land". The Hezbolla leader said the militant group has adopted a new calculation so that Israel feels 'pain', even though he called for a ceasefire.

The ongoing Israel-Hezbollah conflict has claimed lives of over 1,000 people in Lebanon in the past two weeks and prompted the mass flight of more than a million.