Thousands pack stadium for funeral of Hezbollah leader killed in Israeli airstrike

Tens of thousands of people have filled a stadium for the funeral of Hezbollah's former leader Hassan Nasrallah, almost five months after he was killed in an Israeli airstrike.

Nasrallah died after Israeli air force jets dropped more than 80 bombs on the militant group’s main operations room in a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital, Beirut.

His death was a huge blow to the Iran-backed group, which Nasrallah had turned into a potent force in the Middle East. For more than 30 years, he led Hezbollah, the military wing of which is proscribed as terrorist by the UK.

Mourner Sahar al-Attar travelled from Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley for the funeral. She said she would have come "even under bullets" to attend Nasrallah’s burial, adding: "It is an indescribable feeling."

Alongside Nasrallah's remains were those of his cousin and successor, Hashem Safieddine, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb days later.

The late Hezbollah leader will be buried later on Sunday (February 23) in Beirut, while Safieddine will be buried in his hometown in southern Lebanon. Both had been buried temporarily in secret locations.

As the coffins were paraded before the crowds, men on a platform threw flowers and other clothing in the hope they would come into contact with the coffins, believing it would bless them.

Officials, including the Speaker of Iran’s Parliament Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, were also at Beirut’s main sports stadium.

Lebanon's parliamentary speaker and representatives of the president and prime minister were also at the funeral, which is believed to be the country's largest in 20 years.

Qalibaf and Araghchi arrived on separate flights from Tehran on Sunday morning in an apparent lifting of a ban on flights from Iran which Lebanese authorities imposed after the Israeli army claimed the Islamic Republic was smuggling cash to Hezbollah on commercial flights.

Israeli jets flew at low altitude over Beirut as Nasrallah’s coffin was paraded into the stadium while his speech after the country's 2006 war with Israel played.

Hezbollah's Secretary-General Naim Kassem, who wasn't at the funeral, said in a live televised address: "Today we bid farewell to an exceptional historical, national, Arab and Islamic leader.

"The resistance is still present and strong in numbers and weapons, and the inevitable victory is coming... Israel must withdraw from the areas it still occupies."

He added: "We won’t allow America to control our country. Israel will not take with politics what they did not take in the war."

Thousands of Hezbollah supporters waved the group’s yellow flag and chanted from the stands: "Death to America, death to Israel."

Senior Hezbollah official Ali Daamoush told reporters on Saturday that about 800 figures from 65 countries would attend the funeral in addition to individuals and activists from around the world.

Hezbollah has been calling on its supporters to attend the funeral in large numbers as it attempts to show the group remains powerful after suffering major blows during a 14-month war with Israel, which left many of its senior political and military officials dead.

Hours before and during the funeral, the Israeli military launched a series of strikes in southern and eastern Lebanon.

The Israeli army said in a statement it had "conducted a precise intelligence-based strike on a military site containing rocket launchers and weapons in Lebanese territory". Lebanon’s state news agency reported one of the strikes wounded a Syrian woman.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the Israeli Air Force jets flying over the funeral sent a clear message that "whoever threatens to annihilate Israel and strike Israel - that will be his end".

As part of the US-brokered ceasefire deal, which ended the war with Israel on November 27, Hezbollah is not supposed to have an armed presence along the border with Israel.

The group's rivals have been calling on it to lay down its weapons all over Lebanon and become a political faction.