STORY: Hezbollah's new leader says to continue his predecessor's war strategy
SHOOTING TIME: Oct. 30, 2024
DATELINE: Oct. 31, 2024
LENGTH: 00:04:44
LOCATION: Beirut
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic): SHEIKH NAIM QASSEM, Hezbollah's secretary-general
2. various of the van on fire after being targeted by an Israeli drone on the international road of Beirut-Damascus
3. various of the rubble of a targeted residential bloc in the southern coastal city of Tyre
4. various of damage in the vicinity of the targeted residential bloc in Tyre
5. various of a shop owner cleaning rubble in front of his shop in Tyre
6. SOUNDBITE 2 (Arabic): HUSSEIN AKIL, Shop owner in Tyre
7. various of destroyed building in Tyre

STORYLINE:

Hezbollah's new leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said on Wednesday he will continue the war strategy adopted by his predecessor Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah by supporting the Gaza front, Lebanese TV channel al-Manar reported.

"My work program is a continuation of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's program in all fields, political, jihadist, social, and cultural," Qassem said in his first televised speech following his appointment as the new secretary-general of Hezbollah.
   
SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic): SHEIKH NAIM QASSEM, Hezbollah's secretary-general
"Our project is to protect Lebanon. Our project is to liberate our land. Our project is to support our brothers in Palestine. Our project is that our country be independent. Our project is to prevent America and Israel from controlling us. This is our project and not anyone's else in the region. We are paying the price, we are making the sacrifices for the sake of our beliefs, our pride and to liberate our land and so do the Palestinians. As for the Islamic Republic of Iran, it is supporting us in our project and doesn't want anything from us in return."

Qassem emphasized that supporting Gaza is essential to confront the threat posed by Israel in the region.
   
"You will certainly be defeated because this is our land. Get out of our lands; if you stay, you will pay a heavy price," he said, addressing the Israelis.
   
Qassem also said that Iran has been supporting Hezbollah without any hidden intentions.
   
"We are liberating Lebanese land when we fight Israel with Lebanese men on our borders; Iran is not using us to fight Israel as some people were saying," he said.
   
While acknowledging that Hezbollah was impacted by the assassination of Nasrallah, Qassem reiterated that the group is capable of filling all vacant positions.
   
Since September 23, the Israeli army has been conducting an unprecedented and intensive air campaign against Lebanon, marking a dangerous escalation with Hezbollah.
   
SOUNDBITE 2 (Arabic): HUSSEIN AKIL, Shop owner in Tyre
"A man was killed here in front of my shop. Thanks God for everything anyway. I am an electrician. I repair TVs and I close my shop every day at 5 p.m. I went home and as soon as I got there the strike came. If I were here, I would have been among the dead."

Since Oct. 8, 2023, Hezbollah and the Israeli army have been exchanging fire across the Lebanese-Israeli border amid concerns of a broader conflict, as the war between Hamas and Israel continues in the Gaza Strip.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Beirut.
(XHTV)