It will be a week since Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in a devastating strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs. And since then, one question has lingered: Why has he not been buried yet?
Nasrallah’s death was announced the next day by his party. Sources close to the party then claimed that his body, intact, had been pulled out of the deep chasm dug by dozens of bombs thrown at the “headquarters” of the pro-Iranian movement. Since then, information has circulated about a funeral this Friday, which Hezbollah has not confirmed. Hence the fact that the question remains unresolved.
Security fears
But in recent days, some elements of an answer have begun to emerge. On Friday, AFP, citing a source close to the party, indicated that the leader of Hezbollah was buried “provisionally” in a secret location, for fear that his funeral would be targeted by Israel. “Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was buried in a provisional location, pending circumstances allowing a public funeral,” said the source who requested anonymity.
The same source specified that a public funeral in the southern suburbs of Beirut was impossible to hold at the moment “due to Israeli threats to target the funeral participants and the burial site.” It is therefore the security fear that is being raised here.
According to a Lebanese official quoted by AFP and who also requested anonymity, Hezbollah tried, through Lebanese leaders, to obtain “guarantees” from the United States to organize a public funeral. But due to the continuous Israeli strikes on Lebanon, it was unable to obtain such guarantees.
Since the start of the clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli army on Oct. 8, 2023, the Shiite party has organized ceremonies with great pomp, sometimes gathering thousands of people even when they take place in places targeted by Israeli strikes, for its fighters killed “on the way to Jerusalem” and its assassinated leaders. The surroundings of funerals have sometimes been targeted by Israeli strikes in recent months.
‘Temporary’ burial in the Muslim rite
Islamic customs normally require the deceased to be buried quickly. However, Muslim rites, both Shiite and Sunni, allow for burial in a temporary location in exceptional circumstances, according to a sheikh’s explanations on MTV Thursday evening: “There is nothing against delaying the burial of a deceased person and for example placing them in a coffin temporarily,” he told the channel. “It can take hours, days, months, years.”
This was confirmed to L’Orient-Le Jour by Sheikh Mohammad Nokari, a judge at the Beirut courts.
“We don’t necessarily have to hurry up with the burial. If circumstances prevent it, it can be delayed by a few days on one condition: That the body is not damaged,” he explained.
“Thus, it can be buried temporarily while waiting to be placed elsewhere. A wooden or metal tomb is needed. This has already been done several times in history, such as with Riad el-Solh,” added Sheikh Nokari, referring to the former Lebanese Prime Minister assassinated in 1951.
In Tehran, a tribute and threats
On Friday, a memorial service for Hassan Nasrallah was held in Tehran, attended by the Iranian leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Speaking in Arabic, he held a rifle at his side: “Israel’s recent behavior has increased the anger of the resistance and strengthened its motivations … Israel will never achieve victory over Hezbollah and Hamas,” he promised. The Iranian leader also warned: “We will neither delay nor hasten our response to Israel.”
Hassan Nasrallah was killed along with four others, including a senior member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, General Abbas Nilforoushan. Israel, for its part, claimed that he was killed along with about 20 Hezbollah members. A week after his death, his successor has still not been named. His cousin, Hashem Safieddine, a prominent Hezbollah figure with close ties to Iran, has been mentioned as his potential successor.
Safieddine’s fate is still unknown following an Israeli strike on Thursday that targeted him
L’Orient Today
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