Lebanon bids farewell to the Nasrallah era

Inside a packed stadium in Beirut, tens of thousands of people wept in unison. The coffins of Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine, draped with Hezbollah's iconic yellow flags, were displayed before the crowd. Overwhelmed with grief, people surged forward, eager for a glimpse of the solemn procession.

Even the menacing presence of Israeli warplanes flying low overhead could not break the somber atmosphere. "Death to Israel!" the crowd chanted in unison. A woman waving a flag emblazoned with Nasrallah's image cried out, "Sayyed, my Sayyed," an honorific for black-turbaned Shia scholars—descendants of the Prophet—such as the slain Hezbollah Secretary-General.

In the days leading up to the funeral, flights to Beirut were filled with mourners arriving to pay their respects. Hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets to join the procession to the Camille Chamoun Sports City stadium. A Lebanese security source told Reuters that approximately one million people attended the funeral. It took Hezbollah five months to finally bury Nasrallah, the charismatic leader who had led both a fierce resistance movement and a powerful Shia political party.

The 64-year-old leader was killed on September 27 when an Israeli heavy bunker-buster bomb struck a meeting location he was attending underground in Beirut's southern suburbs. His cousin and brief successor, Safieddine, died in a similar strike nearby a week later. Their deaths occurred during an escalation of what had been a year-long border conflict by Israel into a devastating bombing and invasion campaign that ultimately ended with a ceasefire in late November.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, upon releasing aerial footage of the strike on a Beirut residential area, gloated, "You focus on funerals, and we focus on victory." Nasrallah and Safieddine were internationally known as leaders of one of the most powerful non-state armed groups in the world. They were admired and reviled for their hostility to Israel and the United States and their violent opposition, as well as hated by domestic rivals and Syrians for Hezbollah's support for Bashar al-Assad.

Yet, in Beirut on Sunday, many Lebanese expressed a personal connection to Nasrallah, a figure who dominated the country. "I feel Sayyed is the soul of the Lebanese people," said Hoda, an Iranian woman who flew in from Sweden. The ceremony was largely led by lesser-known figures within the party, who delivered speeches, recited poetry, and offered prayers. Much of Hezbollah's senior leadership has recently been killed by Israel.

The final address was given by the current Secretary-General of the party, Naim Qassem. He was previously a public face of Hezbollah, but now, like Nasrallah, addresses crowds only via video due to fears of assassination. Hezbollah was born out of Lebanon's Shia community in response to the Israeli invasion of 1982 and enjoys strong support within that community. Despite opposition from parties representing other religious groups in Lebanon's sectarian political system, Nasrallah garnered support across sectarian lines for his unwavering resistance to Israel.

Awad, a Druze man from Lebanon's Chouf Mountains, flew in from Cyprus to attend the ceremony. "Today, there is a man named Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and they dropped all these bombs to assassinate him," he told Middle East Eye. "For 40 years, this man has been fighting Israel, which is the biggest danger to Lebanon. So, just to show our respect, to salute this man who has been fighting all his life, it is worth coming from far away."

Raymond, from the Christian heartland of northern Lebanon, expressed similar sentiments, coming to pay his respects. "He is my father, and I may have cried for him more than I cried when my real father died," he said. "We thank him, and we wish we could thank him in person," he added. "He is a symbol of Lebanon, a symbol of the Arabs, and a symbol for all the countries of the world." Hoda, the Iranian woman, said she felt honored to share the moment with the Lebanese people. "There is no day greater than today," she said. "Just like Sayyed always stood by us, we must be here today."

Nasrallah was seen by his supporters as a liberator, having spearheaded the liberation of southern Lebanon from Israeli occupation in 2000 and having fought Israel to a standstill in the month-long war of 2006. At times, his speeches would bring the entire country to a standstill. Televisions across the nation would broadcast his addresses, and Lebanese people would listen to his views on whatever issues the country or the region might be facing.

However, Nasrallah was also hated. Political disagreements, foreign adventurism, domestic conflicts, and Hezbollah's notorious involvement in the Syrian civil war have created many Lebanese enemies of the party. Despite this, some supporters of the Future Movement—a recently revived Sunni rival political party—also attended the funeral, condemning the way Israel killed him, whom they saw as a common enemy.

Lebanon's veteran Speaker of Parliament and long-time Hezbollah ally, Nabih Berri, attended on behalf of President Joseph Aoun. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, whose government Hezbollah refuses to support, requested that his Minister of Public Works attend the ceremony in his stead. Other Lebanese allies, including the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, also had many supporters in attendance. Iran, which supports Hezbollah militarily and financially, sent Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi to the event, along with several Iraqi politicians and leaders of armed groups.

Yemen's Ansarallah—commonly known as the Houthi movement—sent a delegation, while a group of supporters from Tunisia were scattered throughout the stadium, waving pictures of Nasrallah and their national flag. "Everyone in Lebanon understands who their enemy is, and how you have to fight them, and they all have deep respect and appreciation for Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and it is normal to see this today," said Awad, the Druze man.

Nasrallah's death ends a 30-year era in which he dominated Lebanese and regional politics. Hezbollah has been badly damaged in the latest war with Israel, and the collapse of the Assad government in Syria would cut off its supply lines to Iran. However, mourners at the funeral expressed hope that the fight with Israel would continue. "Society will always breed any new form of resistance at every stage. This resistance is not just Hezbollah," Awad said. "We will always see the birth of movements that defend the interests of our country, whatever the flag. The flags, the slogans, what we wear or what we say, are details. What is important is what we do."