Tens of thousands attend funeral of late Hezbollah leader Nasrallah 5 months after his killing

BEIRUT (AP) — Tens of thousands of people packed into a stadium in Beirut early Sunday to attend the funeral of Hezbollah's former leader, nearly five months after he was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital.

Hassan Nasrallah was killed when Israel's air force dropped more than 80 bombs on the militant group's main operations room. His death was a major blow for the Iran-backed group that the late leader transformed into a potent force in the Middle East.

Nasrallah was the group's leader for more than 30 years and one of its founders. He enjoyed wide influence among Iran-backed groups in the region and was widely respected in the so-called Iran-led axis of resistance that included Iraqi, Yemeni and Palestinian factions.

Sahar al-Attar, a mourner who traveled from Lebanon’s Bekaa valley for the funeral said she still “cannot believe what happened.”

“We would have come even under bullets” to attend Nasrallah’s burial, she said. “It is an indescribable feeling.”

Officials from around the region including Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were expected to attend the funeral at the Lebanese capital’s main sports stadium. Lebanese officials including the parliament speaker and representatives of the president and prime minister were expected to attend the funeral believed to be Lebanon’s largest in two decades.

The two officials arrived on separate flights from Tehran Sunday morning in an apparent lifting of a ban on flights from Iran that was imposed after the Israeli army claimed Iran was smuggling cash to Hezbollah on commercial flights.

Senior Hezbollah official Ali Daamoush told reporters Saturday that about 800 personalities from 65 countries will be attending the funeral in addition to thousands of individuals and activists from around the world.

“Come from every home, village and city so that we tell the enemy that this resistance will stay and is ready in the field,” Daamoush said, referring to Israel.

Nasrallah will be laid to rest later Sunday in Beirut, while his cousin and successor, Hashem Safieddine, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb a few days later, will be laid to rest in his hometown in southern Lebanon. The two had temporarily been buried in secret locations. Hezbollah earlier this month announced plans for their official funerals.

Hezbollah has been calling on its supporters to attend the funeral in large numbers in what appears to be a move to show that the group remains powerful after suffering major blows during a 14-month war with Israel that left many of its senior political and military officials dead.

Another blow for Hezbollah was the fall in early December of the Assad family's five-decade rule in Syria that was a strong ally of the Lebanese group and a main route for the flow of weapons and money from Iran.

As part of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal that ended the war with Israel on Nov. 27, Hezbollah is not supposed to have an armed presence along the border with Israel. Hezbollah's rivals have been calling on the group to lay down its weapons all over Lebanon and become a political faction.

Hezbollah has prepared for the funeral by setting up the stadium to host tens of thousands of people while giant screens were placed along the airport road outside the stadium for people who won’t get a space inside to watch the funeral. Tight security measures have been taken, including the closure of major roads in the area of the funeral.

Lebanese army and police forces were placed on alert and the army has banned the use of drones in Beirut and its suburbs during the day. Flights to and from Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport were set to halt for four hours starting at noon.

Hours before the funeral was set to start, the Israeli military launched a series of strikes in southern Lebanon. The Israeli army said in a statement that it had “conducted a precise intelligence-based strike on a military site containing rocket launchers and weapons in Lebanese territory.”

Hezbollah has given a title to the funeral: “We are committed to the covenant.”