BEIRUT (LEBANON) – Tens of thousands of mourners dressed in black, some waving Hezbollah flags or carrying portraits of the group’s slain leader Hassan Nasrallah, flocked to his funeral Sunday in a stadium on the outskirts of Beirut.
The killing of the charismatic leader, who guided the Lebanese movement for more than three decades, dealt a heavy blow to the Iran-backed group’s reputation as a fighting force.
But Hezbollah, which also played a major role in the country’s politics for decades, has long had a support base in the country’s majority Shiite Muslim community by providing social and economic services.
Many men, women and children from Lebanon and beyond walked on foot in the biting cold to reach the site of the ceremony, delayed for security reasons after Nasrallah’s death in a massive Israeli strike on Hezbollah’s south Beirut bastion in September.
One of them was Umm Mahdi, 55, who had come “to see him (Nasrallah) one last time and see his shrine… Of course, we feel sadness”.
“This is the least we can do for Sayyed who gave up everything,” she added, using an honorific.
As the crowds gathered, Lebanese state media reported Israeli strikes on areas in Lebanon’s south, including a location about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the border.
Israel’s military said it had struck in southern Lebanon “several rocket launchers that posed an imminent threat to Israeli civilians”.
Israel has carried out multiple strikes in Lebanon since a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah went into effect on Nov 27.
Giant portraits of the bushy-bearded Nasrallah and of Hashem Safieddine — Nasrallah’s chosen successor killed in another Israeli air strike before he could assume the post — have been plastered on walls and bridges across south Beirut.
One was also hung above a stage erected on the pitch of the packed Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium on the outskirts of the capital where the funeral for both leaders is to be held.
The stadium has a capacity of around 50,000 but Hezbollah organisers have installed tens of thousands of extra seats on the pitch and outside, where mourners will be able to follow the ceremony on a giant screen.
Hezbollah has invited top Lebanese officials to the ceremony, with Iranian speaker of parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in attendance.
Araghchi, in a speech from Beirut, described the slain leaders as “two heroes of the resistance” and vowed that “the path of resistance will continue”.
– ‘Dearest to our souls’ –
Since Saturday, roads into Beirut have been clogged with carloads of Hezbollah supporters travelling in from the movement’s other power centres in south Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, in Lebanon’s east.
Khouloud Hamieh, 36, said she came from the east to mourn the leader she said was “dearest to our souls”.
“The feeling is indescribable, my heart is beating (so fast),” she said, her eyes filled with tears.
Despite cold weather and large crowds, she said she would not have missed the funeral for anything.
“Even if we had to crawl to get here, we would still come” she said.
The funeral is due to start at 1pm (1100 GMT).
A procession will then follow to the site near the airport highway where Nasrallah will be buried. Safieddine will be interred in his southern hometown of Deir Qanun al-Nahr on Monday.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television said the movement was deploying 25,000 members for crowd control. A security source said 4,000 troops and security personnel would also be deployed to the area.
Representatives of Iraq’s main pro-Iran factions are also expected to attend and additional flights were laid on between Baghdad and Beirut.
Civil aviation authorities said Beirut airport will close exceptionally from midday until 4:00 pm.
Hezbollah has asked mourners to refrain from firing in the air, a dangerous but common practice at funerals in parts of Lebanon.
The defence ministry said it would freeze gun licences from Feb 22 to 25.
A founding member of Hezbollah in 1982, Nasrallah won renown around the Arab world in May 2000 when Israel ended its 22-year occupation of south Lebanon under relentless attack by the group under his leadership.
In the decades since, views about Hezbollah in Lebanon have become increasingly polarised.
Many criticise the movement for its readiness to take the country to war with Israel in support of Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The war and almost a year of conflict that preceded it killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon, according the health ministry. The United Nations says reconstruction costs are expected to top $10 billion.
Larisa Volkman
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