Hassan Nasrallah's assassination sparks denial, defiance among Hezbollah supporters in Beirut

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Hassan Nasrallah's assassination sparks denial, defiance among Hezbollah supporters in Beirut

时间：2024-10-01 04:37 来源：未知作者：admin 阅读：次

Israel's military killed Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah in a massive bombing on Friday night.

On the streets of Beirut, Hezbollah supporters are reacting in one of two ways to their leader's death: denial or defiance.

"He is alive," said Fatme Hosni el Age, who fled the Israeli bombing in Lebanon's south and sought refuge in the capital.

"Everyone is saying that he is alive. They spread rumours saying he is dead, but he is alive and they hid him."

She is one of many Hezbollah supporters the ABC spoke to who can't believe the leader of their movement, for years a seemingly untouchable figure, was killed by Israeli air strikes on Hezbollah's headquarters in southern Beirut on Friday.

The 64-year-old's death has since been confirmed by both the Israel Defense Force (IDF) and Hezbollah, and on Sunday, there were reports his body had been pulled from the rubble.

Fatme Hosni el Age is struggling to accept that Hezbollah's leader is dead.

"Israel made a big mistake," Ali, a Hezbollah militant from Beirut's Chyah district, said on Sunday.

"We need a couple of days, a couple of months to be back on our feet," he said.

Ali said while Hassan Nasrallah "scared" Western countries, as well as some Arab states, "we have someone to replace him who is on a harder line".

There's been significant speculation about who that might be.

Nasrallah's cousin, Hashem Safieddine — already a senior figure within the group — is among the top names being put forward. Experts rate him as more uncompromising than his predecessor.

Ali believes that Hezbollah will be able to regroup after its leader's death.

In multi-faith Lebanon, there's been a range of reactions.

While his Shia Muslim supporters are mourning, there's a sense of relief among many in the country's large Sunni Muslim and Christian communities.

Hezbollah began attacking Israel in October last year after the Israel-Gaza war began, and many Lebanese hold the militant group responsible for inserting their country into a conflict that wasn't theirs.

Lebanon has other pressing issues, too: its economy is in tatters, basic staples in supermarkets can be difficult to source, blackouts are common and other key societal pillars, like its pension system, are broken.

While Hezbollah and Israel exchanged fire for months, the latter has significantly increased its attacks in the past 11 days — a period in which the Lebanese government says well over 1,000 people have been killed, and more than 6,000 wounded.

A man covers his face with a portrait of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during a protest in the city of Sidon in Lebanon's south, at the weekend.

Lebanon's press, no matter their political or religious leaning, have so far been respectful in their coverage of Nasrallah's assassination.

An-Nahar, a prominent Arabic daily newspaper, said his death marked a new and uncertain phase in hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. The independent, French-language daily L'Orient-Le Jour focused on local tributes and the regional reaction.

Elsewhere, it has been more dramatic.

High-profile Lebanese academic Marwa Osmon, who hosts a program on the Iranian state-owned network Press TV, learned of Nasrallah's death during a live interview with a Russian broadcaster, which had to be cut short because of her sobbing.

Meanwhile, Israel's Channel 14 — a home for controversial, far-right views — opened its Saturday evening panel show with almost 2 minutes of music, singing and clapping over the news.

Lebanon's press has been largely respectful about the Hezbollah leader in the days since he was assassinated.

Hezbollah 'still standing' despite Nasrallah's death

Most observers agree Nasrallah's death is a pivotal moment for the region, although what is less clear is what will happen next.

Israel's military has pledged to continue its attacks in Lebanon for the foreseeable future.

Even after Nazrallah's death, it has bombed hundreds of locations in the country.

The IDF on Sunday also launched what it described as an "extensive" aerial operation to strike targets in Yemen — some 1,800 kilometres from Israel — it says were used by the Houthi militant group.

In Iran, Hezbollah's main backer, there have been public displays of mourning.

The country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the weekend called on all Muslims to confront Israel, although he himself was moved to a safe location.

In Baghdad, Amman and Ramallah, some people took to the streets to protest in the wake of Nasrallah's assassination. However, in parts of Syria, there were celebrations.

Syrians gather in the rebel-held city of Idlib at the weekend to celebrate Hassan Nasrallah's death.

Hezbollah has continued to shoot rockets into Israel since Nasrallah's death, albeit at a vastly reduced rate.

The group — which is designated a terrorist organisation by the Australian government — is likely reeling after having much of its senior leadership wiped out in the past month.

It's estimated to have tens of thousands of fighters in Lebanon, although right now, they're running out of people to take orders from.

"It's our duty to reach out to these people to show empathy, but also to remind them firmly that their only way out of this mayhem and bloodshed is to give and surrender their arms fully to the Lebanese Government," said Makram Rabah, an assistant professor in history from American University of Beirut.

"Thus these people can be integrated into the National Guard or whatever entity and their weapons and their training and their ideology will be directed to protecting Lebanon's interests and not that of a regional player which has destroyed Lebanon, Syria, Iraq as well as Yemen."