No senior officials attended Nasrallah commemoration in Lebanon — Jerusalem Post
In Beirut, Lebanon, thousands of Hezbollah supporters gathered for the second anniversary of the death of the group’s former secretary-general, Hassan Nasrallah. At the same time, no senior officials or prominent Lebanese political figures attended the event in the southern suburb of Dahiyeh, the Jerusalem Post reports.
Assessment of the group’s position
Reserve lieutenant colonel and researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies Moran Levanoni told the publication that the absence of government representatives demonstrated Hezbollah’s difficult position in Lebanese politics. According to him, the group is losing ground despite attempts to return to the center of political life through a mass event in Beirut.
Levanoni also believes that support for Hezbollah has weakened even among part of its Shiite base. He linked this, in particular, to the group’s inability to compensate residents of southern Lebanon for all the losses they suffered during the war, as well as its refusal to hand over the Ali al-Taher ridge to the Lebanese Armed Forces.
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Dispute with Lebanon’s authorities
Lebanese journalist Hassan Ilaiq, who has repeatedly expressed sympathy for Hezbollah, claimed without providing evidence on social media platform X that Lebanese President Joseph Aoun had allegedly instructed the heads of security agencies not to send representatives to the ceremony. He accused the country’s authorities of a hostile attitude toward the group.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem criticized the Lebanese government in a speech, saying that it “serves the Israeli project instead of confronting it.” He also criticized President Aoun, saying that he would like to see the head of state as an arbiter and a unifying figure rather than a party to the conflict, and insisted that the group would continue the “path of resistance.”
Support from followers remains
At the same time, Sarit Zehavi, founder and president of the Alma Research and Education Center, noted that the memorial events demonstrated that Hezbollah has a strong base of supporters. According to the center, ahead of the event there were disputes within the group’s circle over whether to prioritize helping displaced residents or organizing symbolic demonstrations of strength. Nasrallah’s son Jawad, according to the publication, rejected the idea of expanding his father’s grave while the group’s supporters face a housing shortage.
