A year after the assassination of longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, thousands of supporters of the Iran-backed militia took to the streets of Beirut to mark the anniversary, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
Men, women and children dressed in black marched through the Lebanese capital to the site where Nasrallah is buried, carrying portraits of the slain leader and chanting pledges of allegiance to his successor, Naim Qassem.
"We came here to tell everyone in Lebanon that "Hezbollah" "is still strong," said Fatima, whose husband was killed in the war with Israel last September.
At exactly 6 p.m., Hezbollah called on its followers in Lebanon and abroad to stop their cars and observe a minute of silence in memory of Nasrallah.
Nasrallah was killed on September 27, 2024, in a massive Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut. Days later, his designated successor, Hashem Safieddine, was also killed in a similar attack.
Among the crowd at Saturday's rally were survivors of last year's pager explosions that wounded hundreds of Hezbollah members. Israeli media reported that Israel had orchestrated the operation.
The event attracted regional dignitaries, including Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, underscoring Tehran's continued support for "Hezbollah", DPA reported. Opponents of "Hezbollah" They say the movement has been weakened militarily and politically since Nasrallah's assassination, undermining its long-standing dominance over Lebanon's fragmented political scene.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun marked the anniversary with a statement calling for Lebanese unity under the motto "one state, one army and one sovereignty."
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally, called civil peace "the best weapon against the ultimate evil, Israel."
Rallies were also held in cities in eastern and southern Lebanon, but the largest gathering was in the southern suburbs of Beirut, which are home to Hezbollah.