Tens of thousands attended the funeral of the assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday at the Camille Chamoun Sports Stadium in the Beirut suburbs, in a mass ceremony aimed at signalling strength after a 14‑month war with Israel which has left the group severely weakened.
Mr Nasrallah, who led the Iran-backed militant group for more than three decades, was killed on September 27 in a massive Israeli attack on the city amid an intense air campaign in Lebanon. The mood in the crowd swung between grief and vengefulness, with chants of “death to America, death to Israel” and “we will serve you Nasrallah” interspersed with prayers.
Weeping men and women clad in black held pictures of Mr Nasrallah and his cousin, Hashem Safieddine, who was Hezbollah's leader for one week after Mr Nasrallah's death, before also being killed by Israel. A yellow sea of Hezbollah flags stretched as far as the eye could see in the packed stadium.
“It is a very beautiful sight to see everyone gathered like this. Of course, we were very sad at the death of Sayyed Nasrallah. Israel thought it would kill us, but they do not know that our martyrs make us stronger,” Mouna Ghrabi, 40, told The National. “Today's commemoration is the greatest proof of our victory,” she added. Her house, near Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, was damaged during the war. “We all pay a price, and we are ready to pay this price for victory,” she added.
Later, the coffins of Mr Nasrallah and Mr Safieddine were paraded around the stadium before an emotional crowd that pressed forward to catch a glimpse of the revered leader, while tossing clothes at the coffin, in the belief that it would bless them.
The sound of four Israeli jets flying at very low altitude suddenly interrupted the procession – a message, according to the Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, that “whoever threatens to destroy Israel and attacks Israel, that will be the end of him” – and also a reminder that the Israeli army has carte blanche when it comes to accessing Lebanese airspace.
Undeterred, and indeed galvanised, the crowd continued chanting “death to Israel” towards the sky. The ceremony was followed by a funeral procession that ended at a dedicated burial site.
A charismatic leader, Mr Nasrallah was revered in Lebanon and abroad by his supporters, who lauded him for defying Israel and the US. He also faced fierce opposition in other areas of Lebanese society.
Sokaina Hashem, 32, came from Tyre, in south Lebanon, to pay tribute to Mr Nasrallah. A ribbon wrapped around her head read “we are vengeful” in both Arabic and Hebrew, “so even the Israelis know the meaning”, she said. “They tried to erase us, but no, we cannot be forgotten.”
Thousands poured into the capital from Iran, Iraq, and Yemen in the days before the ceremony. Mourners waved Lebanese, Iranian, Iraqi and Russian flags, along with the Syrian flag from the era of Bashar Al Assad's toppled regime.
A woman held a sign showing a cross next to Mr Nasrallah. “I am Christian, and he was the best in the world,” she shouted from the podium. Another woman was seen waving an Irish flag. "I came to show solidarity with the Lebanese people," she said. Arab and Lebanese political and diplomatic figures attended the funeral.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and parliament president Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf arrived in Beirut on Sunday morning to attend the funeral. “Today's funeral will show that the resistance and Hezbollah are alive and loyal to their cause,” Mr Araghchi said on arrival in the Lebanese capital. Yemen's Houthis sent a senior delegation led by the Grand Mufti, the Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV said.
Signalling victory
Hezbollah's leader Naim Qassem said in a televised speech broadcast at the funeral that he would follow the path of Mr Nasrallah. “We will uphold you will and continue this path even if we are all killed and our homes are destroyed. You are still with us, your … path and struggle live within us.” He also said he was “loyal to the legacy of Nasrallah”.
He said the pressure on the resistance and its fighters was unprecedented, but that their steadfastness in response was also unprecedented. “The resistance exists and is strong in number, equipment and people,” he said. “Now we are in a new phase, and this phase has different tools and methods to deal with it.”
The historic ceremony, believed to be the biggest gathering in Lebanon in two decades, was an occasion to prove that the group is still powerful and is able to gather together thousands of people. “It’s not simply a tribute to a historic figure – it’s a show for Hezbollah to prove that they still exist. They want to showcase a victory, they are telling their popular base, ‘We have triumphed,’” political analyst Joseph Daher told The National.
Yet on the ground Hezbollah has been considerably weakened. It sustained heavy losses in the recent war with Israel, with its leadership decimated and thousands of fighters killed. The fall of Bashar Al Assad in Syria, a Hezbollah ally and a member of the Iran-led “axis of resistance”, has further weakened the group by cutting off its supply route to Iran.
“Israel still occupies southern Lebanon and has near-complete freedom to bomb whenever they want,” Mr Daher added. Israel has refused to pull out from five strategic points in south Lebanon after the expiration of a withdrawal deadline, scheduled as part of a US-brokered ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel that ended the recent war. Israel also signed a secret side deal with the US, allowing it to strike Lebanon in the event of any perceived threats from Hezbollah.
The election as president of Washington's favoured candidate, former army chief Joseph Aoun as president, and the formation of a new government led by Nawaf Salam, is seen as a break from past governments, which were dominated by Hezbollah. Lebanon's President and Prime Minister did not directly take part in the funeral, but both sent representatives.
“There is a context of enormous pressure – both external and internal – and a weakening of Hezbollah's military and political capacities, with financial resources from Iran under strain, “Mr Daher said. Just before the funeral, Israel struck what it said were several Hezbollah targets in the south of Lebanon.
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
HIJRA
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Banthology: Stories from Unwanted Nations
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Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE squad
Men's draw: Victor Scvortov and Khalifa Al Hosani, (both 73 kilograms), Sergiu Toma and Mihail Marchitan (90kg), Ivan Remarenco (100kg), Ahmed Al Naqbi (60kg), Musabah Al Shamsi and Ahmed Al Hosani (66kg)
Women’s draw: Maitha Al Neyadi (57kg)
CHINESE GRAND PRIX STARTING GRID
1st row
Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)
Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
2nd row
Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes-GP)
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes-GP)
3rd row
Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing)
Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing)
4th row
Nico Hulkenberg (Renault)
Sergio Perez (Force India)
5th row
Carlos Sainz Jr (Renault)
Romain Grosjean (Haas)
6th row
Kevin Magnussen (Haas)
Esteban Ocon (Force India)
7th row
Fernando Alonso (McLaren)
Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren)
8th row
Brendon Hartley (Toro Rosso)
Sergey Sirotkin (Williams)
9th row
Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso)
Lance Stroll (Williams)
10th row
Charles Leclerc (Sauber)
arcus Ericsson (Sauber)
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
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Scorebox
Dubai Hurricanes 31 Dubai Sports City Eagles 22
Hurricanes
Tries: Finck, Powell, Jordan, Roderick, Heathcote
Cons: Tredray 2, Powell
Eagles
Tries: O’Driscoll 2, Ives
Cons: Carey 2
Pens: Carey
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The bio
His favourite book - 1984 by George Orwell
His favourite quote - 'If you think education is expensive, try ignorance' by Derek Bok, Former President of Harvard
Favourite place to travel to - Peloponnese, Southern Greece
Favourite movie - The Last Emperor
Favourite personality from history - Alexander the Great
Role Model - My father, Yiannis Davos
