MIDEAST: Dep Sec Gen Qassem Confirmed As New Hezbollah Leader

Naim Qassem, previously Hezbollah's Deputy Secretary General, has been confirmed as its new leader according to a statement. He replaces the late Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut in September. Qassem had served as Hezbollah's deputy leader since 1991, and acted as interim leader in the month following Nasrallah's killing and Israel's war on Hezbollah. However, he was not seen as the initial heir apparent, with Executive Council leader Hashem Safieddine seen as the initial favourite to take over. However, he - like many other senior Hezbollah figures - was also killed in an Israeli airstrike earlier in October. 

• The statement comes amid the continued Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah targets across Lebanon and ground incursion in the south of the country. The Arabic-language Elaph reports that the group is experiencing high numbers of defections in the face of Israel's assault. While Hezbollah leadership has sent fighters, many from its Radwan force, to the south to confront Israeli ground troops, the report claims that sizeable numbers of Hezbollah operatives are fleeing into Syria, weakening the group's already diminished operations.
• With Hezbollah seemingly on the back foot, there appears little sign that the Israeli gov't will scale back its assault on the group's targets in Lebanon, ensuring that the security scenario in the Levant remains precarious in the short-to-medium term at least.