Lebanon to hold Nasrallah’s funeral this Sunday

Lebanon is set to hold the funeral of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday, nearly five months after his death in an Israeli airstrike.

The funeral ceremony will take place at 1pm (11:00 GMT) at the Camille Chamoun sports stadium, located on the outskirts of Beirut, with tens of thousands expected to attend, including supporters from Hezbollah strongholds across Lebanon and abroad.

Nasrallah, who was killed on September 27 in an Israeli airstrike while meeting commanders in a bunker in Beirut’s southern suburbs, will be buried next to his son, Hadi, who died fighting for Hezbollah in 1997.

Lebanese authorities have announced strict security measures for the event, and Beirut’s airport will close from midday until 4pm (14:00 GMT) to accommodate the large crowd.

The funeral will also honour Hashem Safieddine, who briefly led Hezbollah after Nasrallah’s death, and who was also killed by Israel.

Safieddine will be buried separately in southern Lebanon on Monday.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and several Iraqi leaders are expected to attend, with Iraqi Airways adding extra flights to meet the demand for travel to Beirut.

Last October, a source close to the group had told AFP that Nasrallah had been buried in a secret location, for fear Israel would target a large funeral.

The deeply religious Safieddine, a cleric with family ties to Nasrallah, had been widely viewed as the most likely candidate for the party's top job.

Safieddine, a member of the group's governing Shura Council, had strong ties to Iran after undergoing religious studies in the Islamic republic's holy city of Qom.

During his speech Sunday, Qassem also pressed Lebanese authorities to pressure Israel to stop ceasefire violations.

The Israeli army missed a January 26 deadline to complete its withdrawal from southern Lebanon and has since launched strikes there. It now has until February 18 to withdraw.

Israel had made clear it had no intention of meeting the initial deadline, charging that the Lebanese army had not fulfilled its end of the bargain.