BEIRUT: Hezbollah marks the death of its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday, commemorating the man who oversaw the group’s rise to become Lebanon’s most powerful force and a key Iranian ally.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli air strike that flattened a building in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of the group, four months ago.
He had led Hezbollah since his predecessor, Abbas al-Musawi, was killed by Israel in 1992.
Under his leadership, Hezbollah forced Israeli forces from southern Lebanon in 2000, ending an 18-year occupation, and declared a “Divine Victory” after the group waged 34 days of war with Israel in 2006, winning the respect of many Arabs who had grown up watching Israel defeat their armies.
As his group grew to become Lebanon’s most influential political and military force, it also developed a regional role as the spearhead of Iran’s “Axis of Resistance” – fighting in Syria on behalf of Assad and training Houthis in Yemen.
The day after Hamas’s cross-border attack into Israel on October 7, 2023, Hezbollah entered the fray in solidarity with its Palestinian ally by firing on Israel from southern Lebanon.
That prompted exchanges of fire for nearly a year before Israel sharply escalated by detonating explosives-rigged communication devices used by Hezbollah, pummelling the country with air strikes and sending troops into Lebanon’s south.
More than 4,000 people were ultimately killed in Israel’s military assault, including more than 300 children.
Despite a truce, Israel continues to carry out deadly strikes in Lebanon. Israel’s air and ground campaign prevented a formal burial for Nasrallah for months.
Followers, including his son, have since flocked to his grave to pray. Crowds are expected to gather in Hezbollah strongholds in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon’s south and east.
The group’s secretary-general, Naim Qassem, who took over a month after Nasrallah’s killing, will make an address.
Tensions over the commemoration have been mounting this week, particularly after Hezbollah projected the portraits of Nasrallah and Safieddine on the famed towering rocks off the coast of Beirut.
The display went ahead, despite orders by Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and the Beirut governor not to do so, angering Lebanese opponents of Hezbollah who said the cliffs should not be used for political displays. – Reuters
