Crying out in disbelief, Hezbollah backers across Lebanon mourn Nasrallah
Supporters mark killing of terror chief with gunfire into air, outbursts of shocked sobbing and anger over death of man they say was alone in standing up to Israel
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — As word of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s death filtered out on the streets of Beirut, supporters who had fled the group’s stronghold in the Lebanese capital refused to believe the news.
“They are lying,” said one woman on the back of a motorbike. “Sayyed is well,” she said, referring to the Hezbollah leader, who enjoyed cult status among supporters in the southern suburbs of Beirut where he was killed in a huge Israeli strike on Friday.
Hezbollah’s confirmation of his death on Saturday led to an outpouring of grief on the streets of Beirut, where many of those displaced by Israel’s bombing of the southern suburbs have been camping out. In the city and across Lebanon, people starting firing in the air in Beirut and across Lebanon to mourn Nasrallah’s death.
Women wept and beat their chests, crying out: “Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest),” while people gathered in groups, glued to their mobile phones.
“I can’t describe my shock at this announcement… we all started crying,” said Maha Karit, one of the few people who agreed to be identified by name.
“He was (like) a father, the one who made us proud. There is no state in the world that has stood up to Israel, only Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah,” she said.
Karit lashed out angrily not just at the West but also at Arab governments “that say they are Muslims” for their failure to defend the rights of Palestinians.
“With Sayyed Hassan, we were the only ones that carried the Palestinian cause on our shoulders.”
In regions of Lebanon where Hezbollah holds sway, the sound of gunfire rang out after the news of Nasrallah’s death.
“Wish it was our kids, not you, Sayyid!” said a woman in the western city of Baabda as she clutched her baby, using an honorific title for Nasrallah.
“We don’t believe he is killed,” another woman draped in black tearfully told al-Manar TV in Beqaa, a Hezbollah power base on the border with Syria. “We don’t. We left our homes and came here for him and for the resistance.”
Hezbollah gained its “resistance” moniker by fighting Israeli troops who occupied southern Lebanon until 2000. The group continued to stage attacks on Israel even after the IDF left southern Lebanon, including sending members into Israel to attack civilians.
Last year, it began firing at towns in northern Israel in support of Palestinian ally Hamas, whose October 7 attacks on Israel sparked the Gaza war, drawing Israeli counter-strikes.
The cross-border violence displaced tens of thousands of civilians on both sides and on Monday, Israel sharply escalated its attacks on Hezbollah targets, vowing to return displaced families to their homes.
In Beirut’s Hamra shopping district, there were more scenes of grief and anger, particularly near shelters set up to host those displaced by Israeli bombing of Hezbollah strongholds in south Beirut and southern and eastern Lebanon.
Others went about their business, but the atmosphere was tense, with fresh Israeli strikes hitting the southern suburbs not far away.
On the balcony of a hotel hosting displaced people, a woman cried out and threw her arms up in grief.
Men on the balcony began shouting and pelting water bottles at journalists below when they noticed cameras.
Times of Israel staff and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
