Massive crowds gathered Sunday on Beirut’s outskirts for the funeral of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, killed in September by an Israeli airstrike, as Iran and its allies hailed him as a hero of the resistance. The delayed ceremony, marked by Israeli warplane flyovers, underscored the ongoing tension between Hezbollah and Israel, with conservatives watching closely as a terrorist kingpin was laid to rest.
At a glance:
- Nasrallah died in an Israeli strike on September 27 after Hezbollah attacked Israeli civilians.
- Huge crowds filled Beirut’s stadium and streets, joined by Iran, Iraq, and Yemen officials.
- Israeli jets buzzed the funeral, hitting Hezbollah rocket sites in southern Lebanon.
- Iran’s leadership praised Nasrallah, vowing to continue the fight against Israel.
Hezbollah’s Fallen Chief Honored
On Sunday, throngs packed the Camille Chamoun Sports City stadium—seating 50,000—and overflowed into Beirut streets for Hassan Nasrallah’s funeral, delayed since his death in a precise Israeli airstrike on his “invulnerable” bunker September 27. The Hezbollah boss, killed after months of rocket attacks on Israeli civilians, prompted the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to act, aiming to end the barrage and let 60,000 displaced Israelis return home, per military statements.
The funeral flexed Hezbollah’s muscle in Lebanon, with current leader Naim Qassem opting for a video address from hiding, while Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attended, calling Nasrallah’s death “not the end of the road” but “a new point in the ongoing struggle against oppression and occupation.” Israeli jets, the same type that took out Nasrallah, flew over, a move Defense Minister Israel Katz called “a clear message” that attackers of Israel meet “this end.”
Nasrallah’s three-decade reign left Lebanon in ruins—poverty, violence, and apathy—while he orchestrated mass killings, not just against Israelis but Syrians, propping up Bashar Assad for Iran. His demise, followed by the quick killing of successor Hashim Safieddine in another Israeli strike (memorialized Sunday too), rattled Hezbollah, already reeling from exploding-pager attacks on its brass. Iran’s state TV ran nonstop coverage, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, absent but vocal, dubbing Nasrallah a “great holy fighter” and Safieddine his “close confidant,” insisting, “The enemy should know that resistance is never-ending.”
Global Echoes and Israeli Response
Iran’s Armed Forces Chief Maj. Gen. Mohammad Baqeri saw the funeral as Lebanese gratitude, mirrored by Iranian tributes, while the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps—hit in the same strike—called it a “global echo of anti-Zionist resistance,” claiming Hezbollah and the “Islamic Ummah” remain unbowed to “dismantle the occupation of al-Quds.” Lebanon’s Al Mayadeen reported reps from “79 countries,” including pro-terror activists from the U.S., Canada, and Europe, per Jerusalem Post’s Michael Starr.
Israel didn’t sit idle—besides the flyover, it struck Hezbollah rocket launchers in southern Lebanon, banned there under a November ceasefire. Nasrallah’s funeral, a stage for Iran and Hezbollah to rally, met Israel’s reminder of its lethal reach, a dynamic conservatives track as Middle East tensions simmer.
