Hezbollah’s new secretary general is Naim Qassem, the long-time number two of the late Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated by Israel on September 27.

Hezbollah announced the appointment on Tuesday via its Telegram channel.

Who is Naim Qassem?

Qassem has a long history of Shia political activism and has been Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general since 1991, when Abbas al-Musawi was secretary general.

Al-Musawi was also assassinated by Israel.

“He was hoping to become Hezbollah’s secretary general when Musawi was killed in 1992,” Nicholas Blanford, a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Middle East program, told Al Jazeera.

“The Shura Council elected Nasrallah, who was Musawi’s miracle.”

Qassem was born in Kfar Kila in Nabatieh Governorate, a village in southern Lebanon that has suffered numerous Israeli attacks, especially since last October.

One of Qassem’s religious mentors was the widely respected Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, and Qassem himself taught religion classes for decades in Beirut.

Was Qassem always with Hezbollah?

Not always.

In the 1970s, he joined the Movement of the Dispossessed of the late Imam Musa al-Sadr, which eventually became part of the Amal Movement in Lebanon.

He left Amal and helped found Hezbollah in 1982, becoming one of the group’s founding clerics.

What was his role in Hezbollah?

The secretive nature of Hezbollah means that only some of Qassem’s roles are public knowledge.

At one point, he oversaw part of Hezbollah’s educational network and was also involved in overseeing the group’s parliamentary activities.

Over the years, he has played an important role in Hezbollah and is also a member of the group’s Shura Council.

He famously published a book called, Hizbullah, The Inside Story in 2005, which has been translated into several languages.

A new, different leader

After Nasrallah’s assassination, some speculated that Hezbollah’s Shura Council might wait until the end of Israel’s war on Lebanon to choose a new leader, but Qassem was elected amid a war that could shape the group’s future.

Qassem is a familiar face who has given many interviews. He addressed Hezbollah followers after the assassination of Nasrallah.

He wears a white turban, unlike Nasrallah and Safieddine whose black turbans indicated descent from the Prophet.

Immediately after Nasrallah’s assassination, there were two candidates to replace him: Qassem and Hashem Safieddine, who headed the executive council.

Safieddine was targeted days after Israel assassinated Nasrallah, but his death was not announced for weeks because Israeli military strikes prevented the rescue process.

Much of Hezbollah’s military leadership was assassinated by Israel in just over a month, and its domestic political allies began to distance themselves from the group.

“Ultimately, he is one of the last standing figures of the political and religious leadership who was eligible to be elected general secretary,” Blanford said. “I’m not surprised at all. It was a clear decision.”

“I don’t think it signals a change, if anything, Qassem is a sign of continuity (for Hezbollah).”