Tens of hundreds of individuals packed right into a stadium in Beirut to attend the funeral of Hezbollah’s former leader, almost 5 months after he was killed in an Israeli air assault on a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital.
Hassan Nasrallah, the group’s chief for greater than 30 years and one in every of its founders, was killed in September final yr when Israel’s air power dropped greater than 80 bombs on the group’s most important operations room.
Mourners wearing black, some waving Hezbollah flags or carrying portraits of Nasrallah, flocked to the mass funeral, delayed due to safety considerations. Many males, girls and youngsters from Lebanon and past walked on foot within the biting chilly to achieve the positioning of the ceremony.
Large portraits of Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine – Nasrallah’s chosen successor killed in one other Israeli air raid earlier than he might assume the publish – had been plastered on partitions and bridges throughout south Beirut. The 2 had briefly been buried in secret places.
Senior Hezbollah official Ali Daamoush advised reporters about 800 personalities from 65 international locations would attend the funeral, along with hundreds of people and activists from world wide.
Nasrallah can be laid to relaxation afterward Sunday in Beirut, whereas Safieddine can be laid to relaxation in his hometown in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah positioned large screens alongside the airport street and out of doors the stadium for individuals who wouldn’t get an area inside to observe the funeral. Tight safety measures embody the closure of most important roads within the space of the funeral and the halting of flights to and from Beirut airport for 4 hours. The Lebanese military and police are on alert, and using drones in Beirut and its suburbs through the day has been banned.
Hours earlier than the funeral’s begin, the Israeli army launched a collection of assaults in southern Lebanon.
