Hezbollah announced the funeral of its longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, will take place on February 23, months after his death in a targeted Israeli airstrike. Nasrallah, who served as the group’s secretary general for over three decades, was killed on September 27 as Israeli air attacks intensified on Hezbollah targets in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
In a televised address, Nasrallah’s successor, Naim Qassem, confirmed the funeral date and disclosed that the group had initially conducted a temporary religious burial for Nasrallah, as circumstances following his death made a public funeral difficult. Hashem Safieddine, yet another top leader of Hezbollah whom the Israeli regime murdered in another missile strike only a week following Nasrallah’s assassination has also been already selected to eventually replace Nasrallah, so that announcement still hasn’t yet been made, Safieddine will thus also be included in the other funerals bearing the title, secretary general.
Nasrallah is to be buried on the outskirts of Beirut while his deputy, Safieddine will be interred in Deir Qanoun, southern Lebanon, hometown. This was after Hezbollah had absorbed massive losses, especially on the part of senior military commanders, in months of fighting that resulted from aerial attacks, particularly after opening of a front against Israel in defense of Hamas in Gaza in October 2023.
An armistice in late November, with a withdrawal deadline for Israel’s troops in southern Lebanon, was violated but has since been extended to February 18, with each side accusing the other of breaching the ceasefire conditions.