A Hezbollah supporter carries a placard reading ‘we will avenge you’ in Arabic during a rally marking the second anniversary of the death of late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. (EPA Images pic)
Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem told supporters gathered in Lebanon on Sunday to mark two years since the killing of longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah and his successor Hashem Safieddine that Israel had been unable to break his Iran-backed group.
The party was weakened after all-out war with Israel in 2023 and 2024, but regrouped and drew Lebanon into the Middle East conflict in March this year by attacking Israel, which responded with massive airstrikes and a ground invasion that Lebanon says have killed more than 4,300 people and wounded thousands more
Hezbollah has demonstrated that Israel and its soldiers “were unable to achieve their goals to break the resistance, end its existence, consolidate the Israeli occupation and establish settlements in Lebanon”, Qassem said in a televised speech broadcast at the gathering.
AFP correspondents saw thousands of people, some carrying Hezbollah, Lebanese and Iranian flags or pictures of Nasrallah, rallying for the commemorative event near the slain leader’s tomb in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold that Israel bombed during conflicts this year and in 2024.
Some in the crowd chanted “death to America, death to Israel”.
Supporters of Hezbollah shout slogans as they watch a televised speech by Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem during a ceremony to mark the second anniversary of the killing of former leader Hassan Nasrallah in a strike by Israel, in Beirut’s southern suburbs on September 27, 2026. (AFP)
Nasrallah, who headed a group whose armed wing is blacklisted by many Western capitals, was killed in a massive Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs on September 27, 2024.
A Hezbollah supporter holds an image of late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah at a ceremony held by Hezbollah to commemorate the second anniversary of Hassan Nasrallah’s killing by Israel, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanon, September 27, 2026. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra
The assassination came during more than two months of all-out war that pummeled Hezbollah and decimated its top leadership.
Nasrallah’s chosen successor Hashem Safieddine, who was also being commemorated on Sunday, was killed in another strike days after his predecessor.
The latest hostilities have drastically weakened the group.
Hezbollah initiated the war against Israel on October 8 , 2023 in support of its Iran backed ally Hamas. Israel occupied 5 strategic hills in Lebanon as a result of that but after Hezbollah joined the war on March 2, 2026 in support of Iran Israel occupied over 500 square Kilometers in south Lebanon and destroyed Hezbollah’s infrastructure in south Lebanon including several tunnels and arms depots. Over a million were displaced and over 300, 000 homes were destroyed as a result of the Hezbollah war with Israel
Housing thousands of displaced Lebanese
Qassem said during his speech : “The party (Hezbollah) is committed to providing shelter, restoration, and reconstruction with the available resources and donations. The details of a new housing project for residents of villages that were completely destroyed will be announced very soon.”
- Qassem said the Lebanese state should have taken responsibility regarding sheltering and compensating the displaced
- “It is still their duty to fulfill their responsibility regarding shelter, compensation, and all obligations related to reconstruction and restoration,” he said.
- Most have returned to their homes, but more than 340,000 remain displaced because their towns were destroyed or fall within areas occupied by the Israeli military according to Reuters.
- According to the Lebanese authorities no country is willing to help in reconstruction as long as Hezbollah remains armed.
- And according to Lebanese media Hezbollah is in a much better position to help in reconstruction than the Lebanese government is because of its Drug trade. Hezbollah reportedly made billions in smuggling Captagon pills to Arab Gulf states , Europe , North Africa and and South America . The Captagon trade linked to Syria and Hezbollah, has been estimated to be worth up to $57 billion . Following the collapse of the Lebanese currency the only bank that was dispensing US dollars was Hezbollah’s Qard al Hassan bank
Neither Hezbollah nor any intelligence agency has publicly disclosed Naim Qassem’s exact physical location.
In 2024 following his appointment as the new Hezbollah chief Qassem reportedly left Lebanon on the same plane that took visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi from Beirut to Tehran and ever since his whereabouts have been shrouded in secrecy
AFP/ Reuters// YL / News agencies
