During the funeral of the two children, Hussein and his sister Amira, in the Ghobeiri neighborhood of southern Beirut on July 24, 2024. (Credit: Matthieu Karam/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — Hezbollah and Hamas announced the funeral arrangements for their “martyred leaders,” Ismail Haniyeh, the political bureau chief of Hamas, and Fouad Shukur, one of Hezbollah’s top military commanders, who were both killed in targeted Israeli strikes.
Photo of killed Hezbollah military leader Fouad Shukur on one of the roads in southern Lebanon. (Courtesy of Muntasser Abdallah/L'Orient Today)
On Saturday, a missile struck near a football field in Majdal Shams, a Druze village in the Syrian Golan Heights annexed by Israel, killing 12 people, including children. Hezbollah, which engages in daily exchanges of fire with Israeli forces along the southern Lebanese border, denied responsibility for the attack, which Israel attributes to the group.
Haniyeh was killed on Wednesday morning in his residence in Tehran, Iran, while Shukur was killed in an Israeli strike targeting Haret Hreik in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Monday. Israel stated that the strike on Beirut was in retaliation for the Majdel Shams attack.
Since the onset of the Gaza War on Oct. 7, 2023, between Israel and Hamas, the situation in Lebanon and the region has become increasingly unstable.
Hamas will hold the official and public funeral for Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran, on Thursday. His body will then be transported to Doha, Qatar, in the afternoon. The funeral prayer will take place the following day at the Imam Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab Mosque in Doha after Friday prayers, followed by his burial at the Founder Imam Cemetery in Lusail. Hamas has stated that the Doha ceremony will feature extensive public and factional participation, including Arab and Islamic leaders.
Hezbollah will mourn Shukur, describing him as a “martyr leader and prominent jihadist,” starting at the Sayyed al-Shohada (a) Complex in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Condolences will be received from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. The tribute and farewell ceremony will conclude with a speech by Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Additional condolences will be accepted at the Imam al-Mujtaba Mosque from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Thursday.
