BEIRUT

Thousands of mourners gathered in the capital Beirut on Sunday for the funeral of former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

The state news agency NNA said the mass funeral for Nasrallah and senior Hezbollah member Hashem Safieddine started at the Camille Chamoun Sports City amid tight security.

Nasrallah was assassinated in Israeli airstrikes in Beirut on Sept. 27, 2024. Safieddine was killed in a similar airstrike on Oct. 3.

Addressing the ceremony, Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem accused Israel of failing to adhere to a ceasefire agreement in southern Lebanon, asserting that his group remained committed to the truce.

“We agreed to the enemy’s request for a ceasefire because we had no interest in prolonging the fighting without a political or military objective,” said Qassem.

He emphasized that Hezbollah had upheld the agreement while Israel had failed to abide by it.

“With the deadline for Israel’s withdrawal now passed, the responsibility falls on the Lebanese state,” he said.

Qassem also declared that Hezbollah remains strong and fully prepared, warning that Israel must withdraw from the areas it still occupies in southern Lebanon.

The Hezbollah leader also accused Israel of planning a war against Lebanon “regardless of Hamas’ Oct. 7 operation.”

He stated that neither Israel nor the US would succeed in pressuring Lebanese officials into submission.

“What they failed to achieve through war, they will not achieve through politics,” he stressed.

The ceasefire agreement, which has been in place since Nov. 27, ended months of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah that escalated into a full-scale conflict in September.

Under the ceasefire deal, Israel was supposed to fully withdraw from southern Lebanon by Jan. 26, but the deadline was extended to Feb. 18 after Israel refused to comply.

The Israeli army withdrew from southern Lebanese towns last week but maintained a military presence at five border outposts.