South Lebanon mourns at mass funerals as PM calls for Israel's complete withdrawal

Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza

Hundreds of people gathered on Friday in the devastated southern village of Aitaroun in Lebanon to pay tribute to Hezbollah fighters killed in the recent war with Israel, as well as dozens of civilians, including women and children.

The village’s central square, scarred by 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah – including two months of full-scale war – was packed with weeping mourners for what was described as the largest funeral procession in the south since the ceasefire in November 2024. At last, they were able to lay their dead to rest: more than 95 people, mostly fighters, but also 31 civilians.

Many in the black-clad crowd hoisted pictures of the deceased – men in military fatigues, but also babies, couples, and entire families. Tearful women beat their chests in rhythm with prayers blaring from loudspeakers, while others waved the yellow Hezbollah flag and held up images of the group's assassinated leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

Israel’s intense air campaign severely disrupted funeral rites, making it increasingly dangerous for families to return to their war-ravaged village. The road to the south is lined with devastation, sparing not even sacred places; on the way to Aytaroun, a cemetery lies in ruins, its gravestones shattered.

“It's a relief to finally bury our dead. This is our land, where our ancestors were buried, where we were born,” said Leila Fares, speaking under a pseudonym. She had travelled from abroad to attend the procession, mourning eight relatives killed in the Ain el Deleb massacre, in which an Israeli strike on a residential building far from the front lines killed 73 people in October. The attack resulted in one of the highest civilian death tolls of the war.

Many of those killed in Israeli strikes were buried in temporary graves until a fragile ceasefire was reached, allowing funeral rites to fully resume. Bodies are now being exhumed before being buried in their hometown. Under the terms of the ceasefire agreement, Hezbollah is required to withdraw its fighters and dismantle its military infrastructure north of the Litani river, while Israel is expected to cease its violations of Lebanese airspace.

Yet despite the ceasefire, Israel has continued to target south Lebanon, killing at least 57 civilians within the first 60 days, according to UN experts, who have urged Israel to respect the agreement. Israel said it is targeting Hezbollah positions. Additionally, Israel has remained in five vital positions in south Lebanon, despite the ceasefire's requirement for a full Israeli withdrawal from the south.

Lebanon's Prime Minister stressed after a visit to the south on Friday the need for Israel's “complete withdrawal” from these positions, adding that “any delay constitutes a violation of Lebanese sovereignty” and the ceasefire agreement.

He also pledged to speed up reconstruction after seeing the extent of devastation. “How can I forget all the innocent people who were martyred, leaving behind orphans, widows and the bereaved?,” he said on X.

'He didn't want to be a martyr'

In Aitaroun, the hum of Israeli drones overhead was still audible, but that did not deter southern residents from gathering in large numbers. Another mass funeral was held the same day in the southern village of Aita Al Shaab, where dozens were laid to rest. The roads of the south were lined with convoys of ambulances transporting coffins.

South Lebanon will be burying its dead for a long time to come. Many remain missing; in Aytaroun, residents say at least six people are still trapped somewhere beneath the rubble.

For Soukaina Haider, 31, who mourned her brother-in-law, a Hezbollah fighter killed in the war, the commemoration is also a show of strength. The Iran-backed group, once a formidable militia, has been dealt heavy blows, losing much of its senior leadership and arsenal, while showing deep vulnerability to Israeli intelligence.

But Ms Haider rejected the idea that Hezbollah has been weakened. “We are here to honour the 100 martyrs and to show the enemy (Israel) that we are not afraid, that Hezbollah is not broken, that we are not weak,” she said. “We have no regrets about our losses – our martyrs, the destruction. We will remain resistant.”

But Maggie Sayyed Hassan, who lost two neighbours in Israeli strikes, said not everyone wanted to die a martyr. Her friend Abbas Hijazi was among the 24 people killed in Aitou, a Christian majority village in the north of the country.

“He didn’t want to die like this, some were happy to die as a martyr, but not Abbas, no,” said the young woman, who was in tears. Mr Hijazi and his family sought refuge in Aitou, far away from the front line, when Israeli bombardment in the south intensified.

The UN urged a probe into Israel's Aitou strike, which raised concerns with respect to international humanitarian law. “He was only a civilian,” she said. "He went all the way to the north to stay alive. He would have stayed in Aitaroun if he wanted to die like this.

“We have martyrs from one or three families, we don't even have memories left of them, as even their houses are destroyed. We paid a huge price, more than we can imagine. Why, how? We don't know,” she added.