Measures taken to 'ensure the safety of participants and all citizens' at Nasrallah's funeral

Interior Minister Ahmad al-Hajjar said Friday, after a meeting of the Central Security Council, that the measures planned for Sunday by the security forces to supervise the funeral of former Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, aimed to guarantee the safety of the participants in the event, but also "of all citizens."

"We have been informed by the security forces of the measures that will be taken on Feb. 23," Hajjar said, according to local media reports. "The aim of these measures is to maintain security and order, ensure the safety of the event and its participants as well as that of all citizens, and facilitate movement."

Tensions

Clashes have broken out in recent weeks in Beirut's southern suburbs during sit-ins criticizing a decision by authorities to ban flights from Iran and over comments by U.S. diplomat Morgan Ortagus about Hezbollah. The party is expecting "hundreds of thousands" of attendees at the funeral, which is being held in the southern suburbs. Meanwhile, tensions have been brewing ahead of the ceremony between Hezbollah supporters and other civilians, such as on Thursday at Beirut airport when a woman held up a portrait of the party's former leader, and in the evening, with acts of vandalism at a Beirut restaurant that reportedly prevented its employees from taking Sunday off.

A security meeting was held Friday at the presidential palace in Baabda, chaired by President Joseph Aoun, to discuss the security measures planned for Sunday to oversee the funerals of the former Secretary-General of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah and its former Executive Committee head Hashem Safieddine.

Participants in this meeting included the ministers of defense, Michel Menassa, and interior, Ahmad al-Hajjar, the acting army commander, Hassan Audeh, the director generals of the Internal Security Forces (ISF), Imad Osman, and General Security, Elias Baissari, the deputy director general of State Security, Tony Saliba, and the director of army intelligence services, Tony Kahwaji.

Nasrallah was killed during an unusually extensive Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut on Sept. 27, 2024, while his expected successor, Safieddine, was assassinated in early October by the Israeli army in the war that began as a support front to Gaza in October 2023 and ended with a cease-fire in November 2024.

The bodies of the two men had been temporarily buried while their funerals were being organized, set for Sunday, Feb. 23, at the Camille Chamoun sports city in Beirut. Thousands of people are expected that day, according to Hezbollah sources. A procession is expected to accompany Nasrallah's coffin to his burial site, on the old road to Beirut airport.