Hezbollah’s Shura Council has elected Sheikh Naim Qassem as the party’s new Secretary-General, according to an official statement released by the group on Tuesday. 

Qassem succeeds Hezbollah's slain leader Hassan Nasrallah who was killed in Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburb last month. 

Qassem was elected by the five-member Shura Council two days before Tuesday's announcement, a source close to Hezbollah told AFP. 

The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said a new Shura Council would be elected after the end of the war.

The council may then opt to elect a new leader or keep Qassem in the top post, the source said.