Hezbollah supporters in Lebanon turned out in large numbers on Sunday to attend the funeral of a top commander killed in an Israeli air strike, in a strong show of support for the Iran-backed group.
Hezbollah hailed Ibrahim Akil as “one of our great leaders” and said the 61-year-old was killed on Friday “in an assassination carried out by Israelis in the southern outskirts of Beirut.”
Akil led Hezbollah’s elite Radwan unit and has been on U.S. sanctions lists for nearly a decade.
Israel said Akil and several other commanders of the Radwan unit were killed in a “targeted attack” on Friday.
The packed ceremony, held on the southern outskirts of the Lebanese capital, where Hezbollah has staunch support, drew men and women, many dressed in black.
Some mourners carried photos of the slain Hezbollah members.
Fighters in fatigues and red berets lined up and, to the sound of a brass band, other fighters carried Akil’s coffin, draped with Hezbollah’s yellow flag, as well as the coffin of another Hezbollah member.
Security was tight, with the perimeter surrounded by a metal fence.
Amira Makki, 60, told AFP she attended the funeral “to say that we are all with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah”.
“We are sacrificing our children and grandchildren for him,” she said, holding up photos of her brother and brother-in-law who were killed in Israeli attacks in recent months.
Nearby, a woman who gave her name only as Fatima said it was her “duty” to attend Akil’s funeral.
“All the martyrs are protecting us. Without the sacrifices of our soldiers we would not be here,” the 26-year-old said.
“We are in a … fateful battle,” she told AFP.
A poster near the march read “We will not abandon Palestine,” referring to Hezbollah’s position that only a ceasefire in the Gaza war will end its attacks on Israel.
Since an Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian militant group Hezbollah triggered the Gaza war, it has exchanged near-daily cross-border artillery fire with Israeli forces that back Hamas.
Tensions and violence have escalated dramatically this week, with Israel launching a major offensive into southern Lebanon and Hezbollah firing rockets at Haifa in northern Israel over the weekend, raising fears of all-out war.
Hezbollah Deputy Commander Naim Qassem, speaking at the funeral, said the group was “ready to face all military possibilities” in the fight against Israel.
The crowd intermittently chanted “Death to America, death to Israel!” and interrupted Nasrallah’s speech to declare their loyalty to him.
Qassem said Akil was “Hezbollah’s operational commander” and founded the Radwan Force and its leadership in 2008.
Friday’s attack targeted an underground meeting of unit commanders, killing 16 people, including the commanders.
The Lebanese Ministry of Health said the total death toll from Israeli airstrikes was 45, including civilians.
Hezbollah said a second senior commander, Ahmed Wahbi, was among the dead.
After the funeral, mourners walked near the casket, which was loaded onto a truck and placed next to a wreath.
Akil is the second senior Hezbollah commander to be killed since October, after top Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukr was killed in an Israeli attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs in July.
Also this week, Hezbollah pagers and two-way radios exploded, killing at least 39 people and wounding about 3,000. Hezbollah has blamed Israel, which has not commented.
Despite escalating violence and growing fears of war, Hezbollah supporters who attended the funeral on Sunday expressed unwavering loyalty to the Shiite Islamic movement.
“We are ready to give our blood and our children,” said Hussein Zaroor, a 72-year-old engineer, who said two of his relatives have been killed since October.
“We are ready and our finger is on the trigger,” he told AFP.
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