Hezbollah chief says slain predecessor Nasrallah to be buried February 23

A Lebanese woman holds a portrait of slain Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, as she waits with others for permission from the Lebanese army to enter their village after the Israeli troops withdrew from it, in Bint Jbeil town, south Lebanon, on January 26, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP

The head of Lebanon’s armed group Hezbollah said on Sunday (February 2, 2025) that his predecessor, Hassan Nasrallah, would be laid to rest on February 23, nearly five months after he was killed in an Israeli air attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Nasrallah, who had served as Hezbollah’s secretary general for more than 30 years, was killed on September 27 as Israel ramped up its air attacks on Hezbollah targets and just days before Israeli troops began ground incursions into southern Lebanon.

His successor Naim Qassem said in a televised address on Sunday that Nasrallah was killed “at a time when circumstances were difficult,” forcing the group to conduct a temporary burial for him according to religious tradition.

Mr. Qassem said the group had now decided to hold “a grand funeral procession with a large public presence” for both Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine, another top Hezbollah official killed in an Israeli strike nearly a week after Nasrallah.

Mr. Qassem confirmed on Sunday for the first time that Safieddine had been elected as Nasrallah’s successor but was killed before the announcement was made. He said Safieddine would also be buried with the title of secretary general.

The killings of both Nasrallah and Safieddine — as well as many of the group’s top military commanders — threw Hezbollah into disarray. The group announced on October 29 that Mr. Qassem, the group’s deputy leader, had been elected as its head.

A ceasefire agreed in late November ended hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel and set a 60-day deadline for Israeli troops to withdraw from southern Lebanon, Hezbollah to remove its fighters and arms from the area and Lebanese troops to deploy there.

That deadline was extended last month until February 18. Israel has continued to carry out some airstrikes on parts of Lebanon, accusing Hezbollah of violating the terms of the ceasefire.

Hezbollah says Israel is responsible for the breaches and says the Lebanese state and the deal’s foreign sponsors — the U.S. and France — should prevent Israel’s violations. But it has not threatened to resume fighting.