Following an invasion by Israel aimed at smashing Hezbollah, the civil war-era militia commander is something of an outlier among Lebanese party chiefs when it comes to what should happen next.
Naim Qassem, who has been the leader of Hezbollah for less than 48 hours and is already targeted for assassination, gave his first address on Wednesday.
Amid the ongoing Israeli offensive on Lebanon, the Iran-aligned armed group has promoted its deputy secretary general to succeed Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike.
Hezbollah is believed to be the most heavily armed non-state actor in the world, and for decades, it has murdered Americans, destabilized Lebanon, and targeted innocent Jewish communities around the world.