BEIRUT, Feb 24 — Hundreds of thousands of people bid farewell to Hezbollah's slain leader Hassan Nasrallah at a mass funeral in Beirut yesterday, nearly five months after he was killed in an Israeli airstrike in a stunning blow to the Iranian-backed group.
Carrying pictures of Nasrallah and Hezbollah flags, supporters from Lebanon and other countries in the region filled the 55,000-seat Camille Chamoun Sports City stadium in the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut.
After a ceremony, they joined a funerary procession outside the stadium before burying Nasrallah nearby. A Lebanese security source estimated the crowd at about a million people.
The killing of Nasrallah, who led the Shi'ite Muslim group through decades of conflict with Israel and oversaw its transformation into a military force with regional sway, was one of the opening salvos in an Israeli escalation that badly weakened Hezbollah.
But the group's current leader, Naim Qassem, whose address to mourners was broadcast on screens from an undisclosed location, said Hezbollah remained "strong".
"We will not submit and we will not accept the continuation of our killing and occupation while we watch," Qassem said.
Though Israel's military has largely withdrawn from southern Lebanon, its air force is still striking what it says are Hezbollah positions across Lebanon and troops still hold five hilltop positions along the border.
Israeli troops also detained Lebanese civilians and Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon, and have the bodies of slain Hezbollah fighters in their custody.
Qassem said Hezbollah would exert pressure to get them returned home. He said Hezbollah considered Israel's five positions an occupation and was relying on the Lebanese government to secure a full withdrawal through diplomacy.
"We choose to fire when we see fit and are patient when we see fit," he said.
Israeli warplanes struck in Lebanon's south and east yesterday and flew low over Beirut twice during the funeral, prompting shouts of "Death to Israel".
Israel's foreign minister, Israel Katz, said on X that the planes "above Hassan Nasrallah's funeral are conveying a clear message: whoever threatens to destroy Israel and attacks Israel — that will be the end of him. You will specialise in funerals — and we will specialise in victories."
Israel's military published a video of what it described as footage of Nasrallah's killing "in several simultaneous raids". Black-and-white footage, which appeared to be shot from a military plane, showed buildings hit by around a dozen blasts in quick succession.
After his death, Nasrallah was buried temporarily next to his son, Hadi, who died fighting for Hezbollah in 1997. His official funeral was delayed to allow time for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon under a US-backed ceasefire which ended last year's war.
— Reuters
