Palestinian resistance group Islamic Jihad announced on Friday that Ziad Nakhala was named the movement’s new secretary-general, formally replacing former head Ramadan Abdallah Shallah, who has been suffering from serious health condition for months.

Palestine Today news agency quoted the resistance movement’s spokesman Daoud Shehab as saying that Nakhala was elected without a challenger.

The spokesman also announced names of nine officials who were elected members of the group’s politburo, noting that there are more other officials from Al-Quds and West Bank who were elected but did not mention their names for security reasons.

In a press conference on Friday, Shehab praised Shallah as a firm and devoted leader for the people of Palestine.

Shallah, one of the founders of Islamic Jihad, was chosen secretary general in 1995 after his predecessor, Fathi Shaqaqi, was martyred in an assassination operation attributed to the Israeli Mossad.

Source: Agencies