Hassan Nasrallah To Be Buried In 20 Days, 5 Months After Deadly IDF Strike

Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem announced on Sunday that the funerals of Hassan Nasrallah, his predecessor, and Hashem Safiedinne, who was briefly appointed to succeed him, will be held on February 23, nearly five months after their elimination by Israel.

In a detailed statement, Qassem confirmed that Safieddine was killed as he to take up the post of secretary general, less than a week after Nasrallah was killed.

The two leaders will be honored at a joint ceremony, but buried in separate locations: Nasrallah will be buried in the airport area of Dahiya, while Safieddine will be buried in his native village of Deir Qanoun an-Naher.

On September 27, Israel launched a massive operation in Lebanon and eliminated Nasrallah, the historical leader of Hezbollah for nearly three decades, as well as Ali Karki, commander of the southern front. A week later, on October 3, a strike in the Dahiya district targeting a clandestine headquarters led to the death of Safieddine and more than 25 senior leaders in the organization, including several key intelligence officials.

Qassem justified the unusual delay between the death and the funeral due to “difficult conditions” surrounding Nasrallah’s targeted killing, preventing the organization from immediately giving him “the honors appropriate to his rank.”