Lebanon: Hezbollah announced Hassan Nasrala’s funeral will take place on February 23

On Sunday, February 23, his funeral will be held in Beirut. The former leader of Lebanon’s pro-Iran organization, was killed in September 2024 in an Israeli raid. In a speech broadcast by Lebanese television, Naim Kasem, Hassan Nasrala’s successor to Hezbollah’s leadership, promised “a grand and popular funeral (…) worthy of this great personality.” CORVERSE Cassem acknowledged that the funeral had to be postponed due to “the security conditions” of both months of open war between the Israeli army and Hezbollah from late September to late November 2024. Cassem also revealed that the organization’s high-ranking official, Hashem Safiendin had briefly served as head of Hezbollah after Nasrala’s death, before he was himself killed a few days later by an Israeli blow in early October. Hashem Safiendin’s funeral “in his capacity as secretary general” of the organization will also be held on the same occasion, he clarified, but he will be buried in his hometown, the town of Deir Kanun in southern Lebanon. Hassan Nasrala will be buried in southern Beirut. Cassem made known that the former chief of Hezbollah had been buried in a temporary grave, a practice allowed in Shia Islam, when a funeral cannot be held immediately.