BEIRUT — The Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) and the Arab Socialist Baath party in Lebanon called for mass participation in the funerals of former Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine, his expected successor, on Feb. 23.

Nasrallah and Safieddine were both killed by Israeli strikes during its war with Hezbollah, which lasted from October 2023 till the cease-fire in November 2024. Nasrallah was killed in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Sept. 27 and Safieddine was killed in a separate attack around one week later.

On Feb. 2, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem announced that Nasrallah and Safieddine's funeral will take place on Feb. 23.

The SSNP and the Arab Socialist Baath are pro-Hezbollah political parties whose influence in Lebanon, already limited before the fall of the former Syrian regime in December, has become even more restricted now.

The Baath party, which was Syria's former governing party, was banned in Syria in late January by interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa.

According to a statement relayed by the state-run National News Agency (NNA), the SSNP stressed that "Feb. 23, 2025, is not just another day in the calendar. It embodies all the meanings of resilience, heroism and sacrifice."

"Our heroic resistant people: here is a new opportunity for each of you to declare your eternal adherence to your land and its sovereignty," SSNP added.

According to NNA, the Baath party also called in a statement the "free people" of Lebanon to participate widely in a "great national and Arab funeral for two great leaders who left indelible imprints in the history of this nation."

"On Feb. 23, we emphasize that our loyalty to the martyrs is not limited to the heroes we bid farewell to, but extends to our duty to liberate our occupied lands, foremost among them is our beloved Palestine," the Baath's statement reads.