Your supporters Hezbollah stated that they suffered a shock and do not believe that their leader, Hassan Nasrallahis dead, while gunmen fired into the air and closed some stores in parts of Beirut.
The Shiite group confirmed Nasrallah’s death in a statement released hours after the Israeli military said it killed him in an airstrike on Hezbollah headquarters in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Friday.
A devastating blow to Hezbollah
Nasrallah’s death is seen as a devastating blow to Hezbollah amid continued Israeli attacks. Even after the news was confirmed, some supporters held out hope that he was still alive.
“God, I hope that’s not true. If it’s true, it’s a disaster,” said Zahraa, a young woman who was displaced overnight from the Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
“He guided us. It was everything to us. We were under his protection,” he told Reuters by phone. Zahraa said other displaced people around her fainted or started screaming when they were alerted on their cell phones to the announcement confirming her death.
In some districts of Beirut, armed men entered the stores and told the owners to close them, according to testimonies. It is currently unclear which faction these men belonged to.
“For you, Nasrallah”
Gunshots also rang out in the Hamra neighborhood of west Beirut, as crowds mourning Nasrallah fired into the air.
“For you, Nasrallah”, was the slogan shouted by those present, according to residents. Such mid-air shootings are a common occurrence in the Middle East, whether in celebration or mourning.
Similar rallies and marches were also held in the southern suburbs of Beirut, according to Hezbollah’s Al Manar channel.
The Lebanese army has intensified security throughout the citysince on Friday it blocked, for precautionary reasons, the US embassy located in the north of Beirut.
A source close to the security services said that Authorities are preparing for potential tensions between different religious denominations.
The Al Manar channel aired verses from the Quran in mourning for the organization’s murdered leader. A correspondent for the MTV Lebanon channel, which is staunchly anti-Hezbollah, expressed her condolences live on air.
AMP Source