Hezbollah chief says predecessor will be laid to rest on Feb 23

3/2/2025 6:01

The head of Lebanon's armed

group Hezbollah said on Sunday that his predecessor, Hassan

Nasrallah, would be laid to rest on Feb. 23, nearly five months

after he was killed in an Israeli air attack on Beirut's

southern suburbs.



Nasrallah, who had served as Hezbollah's secretary general

for more than 30 years, was killed on Sept. 27 as Israel ramped

up its air attacks on Hezbollah targets and just days before

Israeli troops began ground incursions into southern Lebanon.



His successor Naim Qassem said in a televised address on

Sunday that Nasrallah was killed "at a time when circumstances

were difficult," forcing the group to conduct a temporary burial

for him according to religious tradition.



Qassem said the group had now decided to hold "a grand

funeral procession with a large public presence" for both

Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine, another top Hezbollah official

killed in an Israeli strike nearly a week after Nasrallah.



Qassem confirmed on Sunday for the first time that

Safieddine had been elected as Nasrallah's successor but was

killed before the announcement was made. He said Safieddine

would also be buried with the title of secretary general.



The killings of both Nasrallah and Safieddine - as well as

many of the group's top military commanders - threw Hezbollah

into disarray. The group announced on Oct. 29 that Qassem, the

group's deputy leader, had been elected as its head.



A ceasefire agreed in late November ended hostilities

between Hezbollah and Israel and set a 60-day deadline for

Israeli troops to withdraw from southern Lebanon, Hezbollah to

remove its fighters and arms from the area and Lebanese troops

to deploy there.



That deadline was extended last month until Feb. 18.

Israel has continued to carry out some airstrikes on parts of

Lebanon, accusing Hezbollah of violating the terms of the

ceasefire.



Hezbollah says Israel is responsible for the breaches and

says the Lebanese state and the deal's foreign sponsors - the

U.S. and France - should prevent Israel's violations. But it has

not threatened to resume fighting.