Hundreds Gather at Airstrike Site to Honor Nasrallah

Hundreds of mourners, many visibly emotional, gathered in the southern suburbs of Beirut late Saturday to pay tribute at the site where former Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was killed by an Israeli airstrike two months ago. Candles and Hezbollah’s yellow flags were placed around the large crater left by the strike during a ceremony organized by the Lebanese group. This event came after a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, which was established on Wednesday, brought an end to the latest conflict.

Speeches by Nasrallah were broadcast over loudspeakers, and red lighting illuminated the scene, while giant portraits of the slain leader adorned the surrounding damaged buildings. “Sayyed Hassan was everything to us. If only we had died and he was still alive,” said Lama, a 30-year-old woman who attended the ceremony with her young children. “He left a big void,” she added.

Nearby, a group of young supporters waved Hezbollah flags and chanted, “At your command, Nasrallah.” Lea, an 18-year-old student, expressed disbelief at Nasrallah’s death, stating, “I still can’t believe he’s dead.”

Beirut’s southern suburbs, a stronghold of Hezbollah, had been heavily bombarded by Israeli airstrikes during two months of intense conflict. The violence, which began in late September, followed nearly a year of cross-border exchanges triggered by Hezbollah’s support for Hamas after the Palestinian group’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The airstrike on September 27, which killed Nasrallah in an underground bunker, also took the lives of another Hezbollah commander and a senior member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Fearing that Nasrallah’s funeral could be targeted, he was buried in a secret location. Although Hezbollah announced plans for a public funeral after the ceasefire, a date has not yet been set.