Hezbollah-affiliated scouts parade in Beirut's Basta neighborhood

BEIRUT — Hezbollah organized a marching band parade Sunday in the Basta neighborhood of West Beirut, featuring its Imam Mehdi scouts to mark Martyr's Day.

Videos circulating widely on social media showed about a dozen young people carrying drums, marching alongside uniformed scouts and party fighters to the rhythm of the music. Several hundred supporters gathered to watch the parade. There was no official response or notable condemnation.

Basta, a residential area, has been repeatedly struck during the escalation of the attrition war between Hezbollah and Israel from September to November 2024. On Oct. 10, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 22 people there, and further strikes at the end of November killed at least 29 people and wounded 67 others.

The scout parade follows a major public event for Hezbollah in mid-October. An event titled Generations of the Sayyed drew tens of thousands of young participants — estimated between 40,000 and 75,000 — to mark the assassination of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and the 40th anniversary of the movement’s founding. Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem addressed the scouts at the time, declaring: “With you, we will prevail.”

The event in Basta appears to have attracted less attention than the illumination of Raouche Rock—the Pigeon Grotto—in the heart of Beirut with the image of Hassan Nasrallah, despite a ban issued by the authorities. In early July, an armed parade took place in the Zokak el-Blatt neighborhood of the capital for the commemoration of Ashura, which drew condemnation and calls for the arrest of those involved.

Sunday’s parade in Basta attracted less attention than previous Hezbollah displays, including the projection of Nasrallah’s image on the Rouche Rock in central Beirut — an act carried out despite an official ban. Earlier, an armed parade in the Zoqaq al-Blatt neighborhood commemorating Ashoura drew public condemnation and calls for arrests.