Hezbollah prepares “popular and official” funeral for its former leader, Hassan Nasrallah

Two months after his death in an Israeli strike, Lebanese Hezbollah is preparing a “popular and official” funeral for its leader Hassan Nasrallah, an official of the Lebanese formation allied with Iran announced on Wednesday, on the day of entry into force truce with Israel.

“We postponed the funeral” of Hassan Nasrallah “to organize a funeral worthy of him,” said Mahmoud Qomati during a tour organized for the media in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of Hezbollah.

At the beginning of October, Hassan Nasrallah was buried “temporarily” in an undisclosed location for fear that his funeral would be targeted by Israel. “Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was buried in a temporary location, pending circumstances allowing a popular funeral,” declared a source close to Hezbollah. The Shiite Muslim rite allows burial in a temporary location in exceptional circumstances.

First day of truce

The leader of Hezbollah was killed on September 27 in a spectacular Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut, a stronghold of the pro-Iranian formation. According to a Lebanese official, Hezbollah tried, through Lebanese leaders, to obtain “guarantees” from the United States to organize popular funerals. But due to continued Israeli raids on Lebanon, he was unable to obtain such guarantees.

This funeral announcement comes on the first day of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. The truce is intended to halt the conflict that has forced tens of thousands of people in Israel and hundreds of thousands more in Lebanon to flee their homes. The pro-Iranian movement, considerably weakened by the war, did not participate directly in the truce negotiations, instead calling on the head of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri to negotiate on its behalf, and has not, until now, commented the agreement.