Hezbollah source: Hassan Nasrallah buried 'temporarily as a deposit' in secret location

A source close to Hezbollah told Agence France-Presse on Friday that the party's Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated in Israeli airstrikes a week ago, was buried "temporarily as a farewell" due to the difficulty of holding a public funeral for him as a result of "Israeli threats."

The source, who refused to be named, explained that "Nasrallah was temporarily buried as a farewell in a secret location, pending the availability of appropriate conditions for a mass funeral," due to "fear of Israeli threats to target the mourners and his burial place."

A Lebanese official who refused to be named told Agence France-Presse that Hezbollah "tried, through Lebanese leaders, to obtain guarantees from the American side to organize a mass funeral for Nasrallah. But it did not obtain the guarantees in light of the successive Israeli raids on the southern suburbs of Beirut and southern Lebanon, Hezbollah strongholds."

The agency quoted a cleric as saying that it is permissible for the Shiite sect, when a person dies and leaves a will to be buried in a specific place that cannot be reached due to an obstacle or war, to be buried in a temporary wooden box under the ground as a deposit, after praying over him, and to be later transferred to the place mentioned in the will.

Nasrallah was assassinated on September 27 in massive raids carried out by the Israeli army in the southern suburbs of Beirut, which it said targeted the party's "central headquarters" located under "civilian buildings" in Haret Hreik, and led to the killing of more than 20 Hezbollah leaders.

But the party denied this, and later announced the killing of Nasrallah and 4 others, including the deputy commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' operations, Abbas Nilforoushan, and the commander of the party's operations in southern Lebanon, Ali Karaki, in addition to the commander of Nasrallah's guards.

Hezbollah has not yet set a date for the election of a new secretary-general, nor has it officially revealed any details about his funeral. The Shura Council, the party’s highest regulatory body, which consists of 7 members, is responsible for electing the party’s secretary-general.

Hashem Safieddine, head of Hezbollah's political council, who has close ties with Iran, is the most likely candidate to assume the position of secretary-general of the party, according to experts.

Last night, intensive Israeli raids targeted the southern suburbs of Beirut, and were more violent than those that occurred when Nasrallah was assassinated, according to residents and eyewitnesses. The American website "Axios" reported that the target was Safieddine.

Source: French