Mourners attend a gathering to mark the first anniversary of the killing of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. AFP
Thousands of Hezbollah supporters gathered Saturday at the tomb of the group's former chief, Hassan Nasrallah, to mark the first anniversary of Israel's assassination of their longtime leader.
The group, weakened by a deadly war with Israel last year, has organised a series of commemorative events to mark Nasrallah's death.
Waving the group's yellow banner as well as Lebanese, Palestinian and Iranian flags, Hezbollah supporters gathered at the leader's mausoleum, near Beirut airport, while partisan and religious songs blared from loudspeakers, an AFP journalist reported.
The charismatic leader, a major figure in the wider region, was killed in a massive Israeli air strike on the southern suburbs of Beirut on September 27, 2024.
In October 2023, as Israel waged its war on Gaza, Hezbollah started a campaing of solidairyt against Israel. In September 2024, Israel escalated tensions into an allout owar with the systematic targetting of Hezbollah leadership claiming the lives of the gorup's leader Hassan Nassarallah and his chosen successor Hashem Safieddine among numerous others.
A US-brokered ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel was announced in late November 2024 after more than a year of fighting.
While both sides formally agreed to halt hostilities, Israel has continued its air raids across southern Lebanon and Beirut, killing at least 83 people, a third of them women and children, and maintaining its occupation of five sites in the south.
Lebanon’s army says Israel has violated the deal over 4,500 times.
In the face of heavy US pressure and fears of expanded Israeli strikes, the Lebanese government is seeking to disarm Hezbollah.
Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi has said the army will complete the disarmament of the group in the south border area with Israel within three months.
For many of the supporters gathered for the anniversary, that should not be allowed to happen.
Wisam Hodroj, a 51-year-old working in Iraq, arrived early at the commemorations, where the new leader Naim Qassem was due to speak in the presence of Iranian security chief Ali Larijani.
He said: "What has happened since the last war has only increased our enthusiasm and strength. Today, we have a new cause -- we will not compromise on our weapons, and we will not hand them over."
Nearby, Ali Jaafar, a 21-year-old university student, told AFP: "Handing over the weapons is the dream of the enemies, the internal and external ones -- but it will remain just a dream."
Hezbollah was the only major armed group allowed to keep its weapons following Lebanon's civil war, because it was fighting continued Israeli occupation of the south.
*This story was edited by Ahram Online
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