Higher Shiite Council, Sheikh Ali al-Khatib, (C) meeting with reparatory committee for commemorating the first anniversary of the assassination of Hezbollah's former Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and brief party Secretary-General Hashem Safieddine in the Council's headquarters in Hazmieh. (Credit: NNA)
BEIRUT — The preparatory committee for the one-year commemoration of the assassinations of Hezbollah's former Secretary-General, Hassan Nasrallah, and his late successor, Hashem Safieddine, has invited the vice president of the Higher Shiite Islamic Council, Sheikh Ali al-Khatib, to attend a religious gathering planned for Oct. 2.
According to the state-run National News Agency (NNA), Khatib received the invitation during a meeting with a delegation from the preparatory committee at the Council’s headquarters in Hazmieh on Thursday afternoon.
Nasrallah and Safieddine were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut on Sept. 27 and Oct. 3, 2024, respectively. These strikes took place days after the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which started in October 2023 in parallel with the war on Gaza, raging between Hamas and Israel.
The delegation included Sheikh Naji Hamadeh, Sheikh Maher Mezher, Sheikh Ali Touba and Sheikh Hussein Ghebris. They briefed Khatib on the scheduled preparations and activities for the commemoration.
Following the meeting, Sheikh Mezher said that they presented Khatib with an invitation to attend a comprehensive religious and national gathering to be held on Oct. 2, with the location to be determined later. According to Mezher, the meeting will bring together Sunni, Shiite, Druze, Christian and Alawite religious leaders.
"Through this meeting, we emphasized that the Resistance will remain, and its arms, God willing, will remain, and that Lebanon’s differences do not undermine its unity," he added.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Hamadeh said that this gathering "will unite all Lebanese and all sects in the direction of national unity, manifested through the vision of the two martyred leaders."
On Tuesday, the head of Hezbollah's media office, Ali Daher said that Nasrallah and Safieddine's commemoration will start on Sept. 25 and run until Oct. 12. As part of it, the Raouche Rock, in west Beirut, “will be illuminated on Sept. 25, in the colors and with the images of the two martyred secretary-generals, between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.,” as Daher explained, along with “maritime activities” taking place at that time. It is not yet known whether the authorities have approved these activities.
Moreover, as part of the activities for the commemoration of Nasrallah, a short film festival produced by the Sonar Media Center will be launched at 5 pm on Thursday.
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