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Hezbollah's former leader Hassan Nasrallah, killed in an Israeli air strike in September, is to be buried in Beirut's southern suburbs, a traditional heartland for the group, its secretary general announced.
In a televised speech late on Sunday, Naim Qassem said Mr Nasrallah would be buried on February 23 “in a plot of land we chose between the old and new airport roads”, on the outskirts of Beirut. The long-time leader of the group was temporarily buried elsewhere because "security conditions prevented holding a funeral” after Israel launched an all-out war on Lebanon in the same month the leader was killed.
“We hope that it will be a grand funeral procession befitting this great personality,” Mr Qassem said.
Mr Nasrallah was killed as Israel intensified its bombardment of Lebanon after a year of cross-border hostilities. He had led Hezbollah for three decades and his assassination was a major blow for the group, which went on to lose almost all of its senior commanders.
Mr Qassem also confirmed for the first time that Hashem Safieddine, who was assassinated on October 3, had succeeded Mr Nasrallah as secretary general, but was killed days before the announcement could be made.
Mr Safieddine will be buried as “secretary general” on the same day as Mr Nasrallah in his hometown in southern Lebanon. Mr Qassem urged people to refrain from firing weapons into the air before, during or after the funeral.
Mr Safieddine was Mr Nasrallah's maternal cousin and head of Hezbollah's Executive Council. Despite Mr Qassem being the long-term deputy secretary general, it was Mr Safieddine who was expected to be Mr Nasrallah's successor.
The planned funerals will come five days after Israeli troops are supposed to leave Lebanon under a ceasefire deal agreed on in November.
The Israeli army missed a deadline of January 26 to complete its withdrawal from southern Lebanon and has since launched strikes there, killing dozens of Lebanese civilians. It now has until February 18 to pull out. Lebanon has accused Israel of breaching terms of the truce hundreds of times.
During his speech, Mr Qassem also pressed Lebanese authorities to put pressure on Israel to stop breaching the ceasefire conditions.
“The Lebanese state is fully responsible for following up, pressuring and trying to prevent as much as it can, through sponsors and international pressure, this violation and this Israeli aggression,” he said.
