Longtime Hezbollah Leader To Be Buried In Lebanon Within Weeks

Nasrallah, who had served as Hezbollah’s secretary basic for greater than 30 years, was killed on September 27 as Israel ramped up its air assaults on Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

His successor Naim Qassem stated in a televised handle on Sunday that Nasrallah was killed “at a time when circumstances have been troublesome”, forcing the group to conduct a brief burial for him in keeping with non secular custom.

Qassem added the group had now determined to carry “a grand funeral procession with a big public presence” for each Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine, one other high Hezbollah official killed in an Israeli strike practically per week after Nasrallah.

He additionally confirmed for the primary time that Safieddine had been elected as Nasrallah’s successor however was killed earlier than the announcement was made. He stated Safieddine would even be buried with the title of secretary basic.

Nasrallah can be buried on the outskirts of Beirut “in a plot of land we selected between the outdated and new airport roads”, whereas Safieddine can be buried in his hometown of Deir Qanoun in southern Lebanon, he continued.

Hezbollah introduced on October 29 that Qassem, the group’s deputy chief, had been elected as its head, after the killings of lots of the group’s high navy commanders threw the group into disarray.

A ceasefire agreed in late November ended hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel and set a 60-day deadline for Israeli troops to withdraw from southern Lebanon, Hezbollah to take away its fighters and arms from the realm and Lebanese troops to deploy there.

That deadline was prolonged final month till February 18. Israel has been accused of violating the phrases of the ceasefire by refusing to go away Lebanon and persevering with to hold out occasional air assaults in some elements of the nation. Israel itself accuses Hezbollah of violating the phrases of the ceasefire.

Hezbollah confronted one in every of its greatest challenges after the Iranian-backed group opened up a entrance towards Israel to assist relieve stress on its ally Hamas in Gaza in October 2023. The group suffered losses after months of cross-border preventing and Israeli assaults that focused the group’s main figures.