The funeral in Beirut, which herely attended Hezbollah and allies, aimed at showing the strength of the group despite the conflict with Israel and the loss of leaders.
Hundreds of thousands of people attended Beirut on Sunday at the funeral of former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, almost five months after his death during an Israeli air strike.
Nasrallah died when the Israeli Air Force has dropped more than 80 bombs on the main operations center in Hezbollah, located in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital.
His death marks an important setback for the group and the political party supported by Iran, which Mr. Nasrallah had transformed into a powerful force in the Middle East.
One of the founding members of Hezbollah, Mr. Nasrallah led the organization for more than three decades, exercising a considerable influence on the “axis of the resistance” led by Iran, which also included factions in Iraq, in Yemen and Palestine.
He became a figure widely recognized in the Arab world after Hezbollah fought Israel during the 2006 war.
The group’s reputation suffered from its involvement in the civil war in Syria on behalf of former President Bashar al-Assad.
Hezbollah had urged its supporters to attend the funeral in large numbers who will take place on Sunday at the Beirut Sports Stadium, apparently to show that it remains strong despite the important losses that it suffered during its 14 -month conflict with Israel, who led to the death of several high -ranking political and military figures.
A Lebanese official estimated the number of participants at around 450,000 people, while other sources have advanced higher figures.
“This massive crowd confirms that Hezbollah is still the most popular party at Lebanese level and that, consequently, all the speeches that Hezbollah is weak or degraded do not have to be,” said Ali Fayyad, A group’s political wing legislator, which attended the ceremony.
Participants from around the world
Many people in mourning came from all over Lebanon to meditate.
“We would have come even under the bullets,” said Sahar al-Attar, who came from the Bekaa valley to attend the funeral.
Along the route, giant screens displayed the title of the funeral: “We are attached to the alliance”.
A senior Hezbollah official Ali Daamoush said on Saturday that around 800 personalities from 65 countries were expected at the funeral, as well as thousands of sympathizers and activists.
The president of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abbas Araghchi, were notably present. Just like the president of the Lebanese Parliament, as well as representatives of the President and the Prime Minister.
The funeral also attracted participants from outside the Middle East, including Western activists. Irish activist Tara O’Grady Branded an Irish flag and expressed its solidarity with Lebanon.
Ms. O’Grady said that she had come to “support the Lebanese people and their resistance against the Zionist regime who continues to brutally bomb the south of Lebanon”.
Four Israeli war aircraft flew over Beirut at low altitude while Mr. Nasrallah’s coffin was in the stadium. The Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that the fighting planes flying over the funeral “sent a clear message: Whoever threatens to destroy Israel and strike Israel – it will be his end “.
Hezbollah remains unbeatable
In accordance with the ceasefire concluded under the aegis of the United States, which ended the war with Israel on November 27, Hezbollah is not supposed to have an armed presence along the border with Israel.
The group underwent another major setback in December, when the al-Assad family regime, in place for decades in Syria, collapsed, interrupting an essential route for arms and funds from ‘Iran.
Hezbollah opponents have more and more often called for its disarmament and transformation into a purely political organization.
However, in a television speech broadcast during the funeral, the successor of Mr. Nasrallah, the current secretary general of Hezbollah, Naim Kassem, said that the group remained strong.
“The resistance is always present and strong in number and in arms, and an inevitable victory is looming on the horizon,” he said.
Kassem also reiterated Hezbollah’s requirements concerning the withdrawal of Israel from five strategic border positions in southern Lebanon, where Israeli forces remain deployed.
“Israel must withdraw from the areas he still occupies,” he added.