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Hezbollah’s Nasrallah to Be Buried in ‘Grand Procession’ on Feb. 23
Former Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addresses his supporters through a screen during a rally commemorating the annual Hezbollah Martyrs’ Day, in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Photo: Reuters/Aziz Taher
JNS.org — The head of the Iranian-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah said on Sunday that his predecessor, Hassan Nasrallah, will be buried on Feb. 23, nearly five months after he was killed in an Israeli airstrike.
While”“security conditions” prevented a funeral during the war with Israel that ended with the Nov. 27 truce, the terror organization’s leadership has now decided to hold a “grand procession” for its slain chief near the Beirut airport, Naim Qassem said in a televised speech.
“We hope that it will be a grand funeral procession befitting this great personality,” he stated in remarks translated by Agence France-Presse.
A funeral for top Hezbollah terrorist Hashem Safieddine, who had been elected to succeed Nasrallah before he, too, was eliminated by Israel, is to be held on the same day. Safieddine will be buried with the same honors as Nasrallah because “he was martyred on Oct. 3, a day or two before the announcement” of his new position, Qassem revealed.
Nasrallah will be buried in the Beirut area “in a plot of land we chose between the old and new airport roads,” while Safieddine will be buried in his hometown of Deir Qanoun al-Nahr in Lebanon’s south, he said.
Qassem in his address acknowledged that Nasrallah was killed “at a time when circumstances were difficult” for the terrorist organization, forcing it to conduct a temporary burial for him according to Shi’ite traditions.
On Sept. 27, the Israeli Air Force dropped at least a dozen 2,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on Nasrallah’s bunker in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Two unnamed Israeli officials told The New York Times that more than 80 bombs were dropped over the span of several minutes during the strike, but did not confirm the type of munitions used.
A week later, an IAF strike on a bunker in the Dahiyeh district killed Safieddine — a maternal cousin of Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council, and a leading candidate to replace the terror chief.
Visiting Israel Defense Forces troops in southern Lebanon on Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a warning to the Iranian-backed terrorists: “I suggest that the successor of Nasrallah’s successor not make a mistake about Israel’s determination, lest he pay a very heavy price.”
According to Katz, Jerusalem will not allow a return to the situation that prevailed on the Israel-Lebanon border before the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist massacre. “We will foil threats and respond with full force,” the defense minister said.
The ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect at 4 am on Nov. 27, ending nearly 14 months of hostilities.
Under the agreement with the Lebanese government, Israeli soldiers are to gradually withdraw from southern Lebanon as the Lebanese Armed Forces and UN Interim Force in Lebanon assume responsibility for ensuring Hezbollah remains disarmed south of the Litani River.
The post Hezbollah’s Nasrallah to Be Buried in ‘Grand Procession’ on Feb. 23 first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.