Hezbollah marks anniversary of Hassan Nasrallah's assassination

Events under scrutiny as Lebanese militant group faces pressure from government and western powers to disarm

A Hezbollah supporter carries pictures of the group's former leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut on Friday. EPA

Hezbollah supporters gathered across Lebanon on Saturday to mark the first anniversary of the killing of the militant group's leader Hassan Nasrallah by an Israeli air strike.

Mr Nasrallah, whose body is buried in the Hezbollah stronghold of Beirut's southern suburbs, led the group for three decades. His assassination was a major blow for the Lebanese organisation.

Hezbollah went on to lose almost all of its senior commanders in last year's war with Israel, including Hashem Safieddine – at the time considered most likely to succeed Mr Nasrallah.

Naim Qassem, who was named Hezbollah leader in October 2024, made a speech on Saturday to mark the anniversary. Crowds gathered in the capital's southern districts as well as in Lebanon's south and east. He reaffirmed that Hezbollah would not allow disarmament and warned of a fierce confrontation, describing the fight as an existential battle that the group was capable of facing.

Ali Larijani, head of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran - Hezbollah's sponsor - visited Beirut on Saturday to mark the anniversary and met Lebanon’s parliament speaker Nabih Berri. Mr Larijani called on regional countries to put their difference aside and co-operate closely in the face of what he called “Israel’s conspiracies”.

The site of Mr Nasrallah's killing in Beirut has become a place for mourners to pray for him, near an enormous crater where six residential buildings stood before an Israeli air raid took out the entire block.

On Thursday, thousands gathered on Beirut’s corniche to remember Mr Nasrallah. There was controversy over the projection of his image on to Raouche’s Pigeon Rocks, a natural formation jutting into the Mediterranean and one of Beirut’s best-known landmarks.

Authorities did not at first grant Hezbollah permission to illuminate the rocks or project portraits of its late leaders, fearing it was an attempt by the group to impose itself on public spaces and claim a national symbol.

Hezbollah appeared to try to assuage opposition by also projecting images of Parliament Speaker and Amal movement leader Nabih Berri, along with former prime ministers Saad Hariri and his father Rafic Hariri, two Lebanese Sunni leaders.

Portraits of assassinated Hezbollah leaders Hassan Nasrallah, right, and Hashem Safieddine are projected on to the Raouche Pigeon Rocks in Beirut. AP

But current Prime Minister Nawaf Salam denounced the move on X as “a flagrant violation of the agreement given by the city’s governor”.

Thursday’s event at Raouche was the first in a series of 18 days of ceremonies, scheduled until October 12, to commemorate the killing of Mr Nasrallah.

The late leader served as the third secretary general of Hezbollah, which emerged as a force in Lebanon in the early 1980s.

He became the group's secretary general in 1992 aged only 35, after his predecessor, Sayyed Abbas Al Musawi, was killed in an Israeli helicopter attack.

With his fiery speeches, he swiftly became the public face of Hezbollah in its fight against the Israelis. He was at the helm when Hezbollah guerrillas drove Israeli forces from southern Lebanon in 2000, ending an 18-year occupation.

He also declared a “divine victory” after the group waged 34 days of war with Israel in 2006, winning the respect of many Arabs who had grown up watching Israel defeat their armies.

As his group grew to become Lebanon's most influential political and military force, it also developed a regional role as the spearhead of Iran's region-wide “Axis of Resistance” against Israel. Hezbollah also fought in Syria and trained the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The day after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, Hezbollah entered the fray in solidarity with its Palestinian ally by firing on Israel from southern Lebanon.

That prompted exchanges of fire for nearly a year before Israel sharply escalated by detonating explosives-rigged communication devices used by Hezbollah members, while pummelling the country with air strikes and sending troops into Lebanon's south.

More than 4,000 people were ultimately killed in Israel's military assault on Lebanon last year, including at least 300 children.

Despite a ceasefire agreement reached in November, Israel continues to carry out deadly strikes. Israel's air and ground attacks for months prevented the formal burial of Mr Nasrallah.

Today, weakened by its war with Israel and with its main backer Iran also diminished, Hezbollah is under pressure from the Lebanese state and western powers to disarm, as the country tries to rebuild its shattered economy.