Nasrallah and Safieddine projected on Raouche Rocks, Salam denounces 'flagrant violation' of governor's decision

BEIRUT — On Thursday night, thousands of Hezbollah supporters gathered on Beirut's busy waterfront to commemorate party leaders, Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safeddine, assassinated by Israel last year, projecting their portraits onto the landmark Rouche Rock despite Beirut's governor's ban on doing so. 

Waving portraits of Nasrallah and Hezbollah flags, participants chanted: "Israel is the enemy of Muslims." Some arrived aboard dozens of small boats decorated with the group's yellow pennants.

Wafic Safa, head of Hezbollah's liaison unit and target of an Israeli assassination attempt on Oct. 10, 2024, was also present at the rally.

Weakened by a deadly war with Israel that ended with a cease-fire in November 2024, Hezbollah is planning a series of commemorative events for the first anniversary of its leaders' deaths.

Nasrallah was killed on Sept. 27, 2024, in a series of massive Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, a densely populated area where many Hezbollah supporters reside.

His designated successor, Hashem Safieddine, was killed in another series of Israeli strikes in early October 2024.

The portraits of the two men were briefly projected onto the Raouche Rock, a gesture interpreted as a challenge to the ban issued the day before by Beirut's governor, Marwan Abboud. Furthermore, Abboud had authorized the gathering but banned any sound and light displays at the iconic site. Hezbollah's decision to pay tribute to its leaders in this way sparked controversy amongst some in a deeply divided country.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam denounced on X "a flagrant violation of the agreement given by the city's governor."

"As a result, I have contacted the ministers of interior, justice and defense to take appropriate measures, including the arrest of those responsible and their referral to the courts to be punished in accordance with the laws in force," he added.

He also stressed that "this reprehensible behavior will not deter us from our decision to rebuild a state based on law and institutions; on the contrary, it strengthens our determination to fulfill this national duty."

However, the portraits of Parliament Speaker and Amal Movement leader Nabih Berri and the two former prime ministers, Saad Hariri and his father Rafik Hariri were also projected.

Rafik Hariri was killed in Beirut on Feb. 14, 2005, in a suicide car bombing that killed 21 others. The assassination took place at a time when the Syrian regime was still occupying Lebanon. In 2022, the United Nations Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) convicted two Hezbollah members in absentia of this attack, sentencing them to life imprisonment at the end of a lengthy trial. 

‘Zionist, zionist’ and ‘shiites, shiiites’ shants

Al-Manar journalist Ali Barro posted a video of himself next to a laughing Safa from Raouche in which he insults Salam: "Nawaf, the haj (Wafic) sends you his regards and says: We're going to light it up, Nawaf, and we're going to shut you down," he says.

Once the rock was lit up, the journalist added: "There you go, Nawaf, we lit it up, despite you and despite your master Yazid," referring to the Saudi envoy to Lebanon, Yazid bin Farhan.

"Even after his martyrdom, his finger broke your head, broke your neck, and broke your decision," he added, referring to Nasrallah.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called on Monday for the authorities to "ban the use of public and tourist sites without prior authorization." In the crowd, one woman cried out: "You can keep your rock, anyways you'll soon be hiding there," addressing Salam and President Joseph Aoun. Numerous insults were hurled at the prime minister.

A man held a framed photo of Nasrallah in one hand, and his Lebanese identity card alongside a fake one bearing the name of the late Hezbollah leader, in the other: "We gave martyrs! What have you done for this country?" he cried out, directing his ire to Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.

The crowd chanted: "Zionist, zionist, Samir Geagea, zionist," referring to the Lebanese Forces leader. Among those present, one man had a tattoo on his neck with the day of Nasrallah's assassination.

Some men chanted "Shiites, Shiites" as they were present at the rally, in reference to the sect that Hezbollah belongs to.

"Sayyed [Hassan Nasrallah] was a symbol for all Muslims, and the only one defending Gaza," an Egyptian man told L’Orient-Le Jour.

"We do not discriminate based on religion, but the state is pushing us into a corner. We have no [other] choice if we want to exist," added a Lebanese man in his 40s.

"I came to show that 'the Resistance' is first of all human. We are here, and if you want to take away our weapons, you'll have to take us one by one first," said a 22-year-old journalism student.

Hezbollah is under intense pressure to hand over its weapons to the state, and the Lebanese Army has developed a plan to disarm it, starting with the south of the Litani River.

The party opened a "support front" against Israel for Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023. Hostilities escalated into open war in September 2024, before a cease-fire went into effect on Nov. 27.

Despite the cease-fire, Israel continues to strike Lebanon on a near-daily basis, in violation of the agreement.