BEIRUT

Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem said Monday the group will elect a new leader “as soon as possible.”

"We will choose a secretary-general as soon as possible according to the party’s structure,” Qassem said in a televised speech.

“The choices will be easy," he added.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the southern suburb of Beirut on Friday.

“Despite the loss of some leaders and attacks on civilians, we will continue to confront the Israeli enemy in support of Palestine and in defense of Lebanon,” Qassem stressed.

"We are implementing the alternative plans that Nasrallah had put in place before his assassination,” he added.

Qassem denied Israeli claims that around 20 Hezbollah commanders were killed in the strike that targeted Nasrallah.

“Contrary to what Israel claimed, there was no meeting of 20 party leaders at the time of Nasrallah's targeting in the southern suburb,” he said.

He added that only Hezbollah commander Ali Karaki, head of Nasrallah's bodyguards Ibrahim Jazini, another aide named Samir Harb, and Revolutionary Guard commander Abbas Nilforoushan were present at the time of the attack.

Qassem accused the US of providing unlimited military support to Israel.

“The battle is long, the options are open, and we will confront any Israeli ground invasion into Lebanon,” he said.

Since Sept. 23, Israel has launched massive airstrikes against what it calls Hezbollah targets across Lebanon, killing more than 900 people and injuring over 2,700 others, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

Hezbollah and Israel have been engaged in cross-border warfare since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 41,600 people, mostly women and children, following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year.

The international community has warned that Israeli attacks in Lebanon could escalate the Gaza conflict into a wider regional war.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Istanbul