‘Popular funerals’ for Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine on Feb. 23

Hezbollah's Secretary-General Naim Qassem announced the holding of "popular funerals" on Sunday, Feb. 23, for the party's former leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed on Sept. 27 by an Israeli strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut. These funerals will also mourn Hashem Safieddine, the former president of the party's executive council and Nasrallah's anticipated successor, whose death was confirmed on Oct. 23 after being targeted by a massive airstrike on the night of Oct. 3-4. Nasrallah will be buried "in a field located between the old and new roads leading to the airport," revealed Qassem, while Safieddine will be laid to rest in his hometown of Deir Kanoun al-Nahr, in the Sour district, southern Lebanon.

In a televised speech on Sunday, Sheikh Qassem also called on the Lebanese state "to assume its responsibilities" in the face of Israeli cease-fire violations, initially set to end on Jan. 26 and extended until Feb. 18. Since then, Israel continues to occupy localities in southern Lebanon. "The Lebanese state has agreed to extend the deadline until Feb. 18. We consider that the state is responsible for exerting pressure ... for Israeli violations and aggressions to end," declared Qassem. "Hezbollah and the resistance have been patient because they want the state to seize its opportunity to implement the cease-fire. We know Israel is violating this agreement ... but the state must assume its responsibilities. We, as resistance ... will act according to our assessment and at the appropriate time," he added, implying that if Israel does not withdraw by Feb. 18, the militia may not automatically engage in hostilities.

Qassem also addressed the numerous criticisms regarding the "victory" declared by Hezbollah at the end of the war. "Our supporters know they have won in some aspects and lost in others. We did not speak of complete victory, but of a victory linked to the persistence of resistance," he said. "On the other side, there are losses and sacrifices, such as the death of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah or Hashem Safieddine ... there are also many martyrs, wounded, prisoners, destroyed homes and villages," he said.

The party leader also condemned, with a week of delay, the motorcycle parade conducted last Sunday by Hezbollah supporters in several Christian neighborhoods of the capital. "Some motorcycles left the southern suburbs to celebrate what happened in southern Lebanon ... We condemn these acts and the fact they went to certain regions. These behaviors do not serve the national interest, Islamic unity, or resistance ... We have nothing to do with these provocatively organized parades outside the southern suburbs. Even in the southern suburbs, we call to avoid certain behaviors and slogans," emphasized the Hezbollah leader.

To celebrate the return of displaced residents to southern Lebanon, supporters of the Hezbollah-Amal Shiite tandem paraded on mopeds last Sunday evening in Beirut in certain Christian sectors unfavorable to them, brandishing weapons, partisan flags and provocative slogans, notably in the neighborhoods of Furn al-Shebbak and Ain al-Rummaneh, Gemmayzeh, and Hazmieh, according to videos published on social networks.

Sheikh Qassem also called for avoiding firing in the air during Nasrallah's funerals, a practice often observed in the southern suburbs and other regions of the country during celebrations.