Written by Maya Gebely
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Gunmen fired into the air in parts of Beirut, shut down shops and attacked Hezbollah supporters after the death of Lebanese militant leader Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday. said he was in a state of shock and disbelief.
Hezbollah confirmed Nasrallah’s killing on Saturday, issuing a statement hours after the Israeli military said it had removed him in an airstrike on the group’s headquarters in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Friday.
Mr. Nasrallah’s death was a devastating blow to Hezbollah, which is reeling from a heavy offensive campaign by Israel, but even as the news broke, some of Mr. Nasrallah’s supporters managed to maintain that he was still alive. I was longing for that.
“God, I hope it’s not true. If it is, it will be terrible,” said Zahraa, a young woman who was evacuated overnight from Hezbollah’s stronghold on the southern outskirts of Beirut.
“He guided us. He meant everything to us. We were under his wing,” she tearfully told Reuters by phone.
She said other evacuees around her fainted or began screaming when they received notifications on their cellphones of Hezbollah’s declaration confirming their deaths.
Nasrallah, who has led Hezbollah since the Shiite Islamist group’s former leader was killed in an Israeli operation in 1992, is known for his televised speeches, which are closely watched by both the group’s supporters and opponents. was.
“We’re still waiting for him to come on TV at 5 p.m. and say everything’s OK and we can go home,” Zahler said.
Witnesses said armed men came to shops in some areas of Beirut and told shop owners to close their doors. It was not immediately clear which faction the gunmen belonged to.
Residents said gunshots could be heard in the Hamra neighborhood in the city’s west as mourners fired into the air. The crowd was heard shouting, “For you, Nasrallah!”
In the Middle East, such shootings are often accompanied by processions of mourning or celebration, but in this case it was the former.
A similar procession marched through Beirut’s southern suburbs, according to Hezbollah’s Almanar television.
The Lebanese army has stepped up security measures across the capital after deploying security around the US embassy north of Beirut, security sources told Reuters.
Another security source said Lebanese security forces were preparing for a possible outbreak of sectarian violence.
Lebanon is made up of a precarious balance of religious sects, including various Muslim and Christian communities, which are represented by rival political parties. Hezbollah became the country’s most powerful faction under Nasrallah.
Hezbollah’s al-Manar television broadcast verses from the Quran in memory of the group’s slain leader. A correspondent for MTV Lebanon, a station whose editorials are usually anti-Hezbollah, expressed his condolences live on air.
