Slain Hezbollah chief Nasrallah to be buried on Feb. 23, successor Naim Qassem announces

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem announces in a pre-recorded speech that the terror group’s former leader Hassan Nasrallah will be buried on February 23, five months after he was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on September 27, 2024.

Nasrallah’s would-be successor Hashem Safieddine, who was killed just days after his leader on October 3, will also be buried on February 23.

Hezbollah officials had previously indicated that Nasrallah would be buried after the initial 60-day ceasefire with Israel, which ended on January 26. However, the deadline for the IDF to withdraw was later pushed back by the United States and Lebanon to February 18, as Israel had assessed that the Lebanese army had deployed too slowly across the region.

Qassem slams Israel for what he says are repeated violations of the ceasefire agreement, but says the terror group will be “patient” and wait for the Lebanese state to fulfill its responsibility and pressure mediating countries to force Israel to stop its “aggression.”

Qassem further acknowledges that Hezbollah did not achieve an “absolute victory,” but says it has registered some gains and some losses. Its main achievement, he says, was to prove the steadfastness of the “resistance” and Israel’s inability to break it.

Qassem praises the residents of southern Lebanon who have returned to their homes, saying that scenes of their return indicated a “popular liberation.”

The IDF has warned Lebanese residents against returning to south Lebanon villages until they are authorized to do so.

In a speech last week, Qassem slammed the extension of the IDF’s withdrawal deadline from January 26 to February 18, and accused Israel of violating the ceasefire 1,350 times.