BEIRUT (AP) — Thousands of Hezbollah supporters gathered at a scenic overlook on Beirut’s coast Thursday and projected images of the group’s former longtime leader and his successor on the iconic arched Raouche rock to commemorate their deaths in Israeli airstrikes nearly a year ago.
The move came despite an apparent attempt by Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam to halt the planned light show.
Salam issued a circular earlier this week pointing to “the recent recurrence of the exploitation of national monuments for propaganda purposes and to hold activities in which partisan and political slogans are raised.”
He directed public bodies to “strictly prohibit the use of public land and sea areas, archaeological and tourist landmarks, or those that bear a unifying national symbolism before obtaining the necessary licenses and permits from the relevant authorities.”
Hassan Nasrallah, the longtime leader of the militant group and political party, was killed in a series of massive Israeli strikes on a site in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sept. 27, 2024, that destroyed an entire block under which Nasrallah was meeting with an Iranian general and some of his top military commanders.
Days later, Nasrallah’s successor, Hashem Safieddine, was killed in another series of airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Salam said in a post on X that a gathering permit was issued by the governor of Beirut to the organizers of the demonstration, but “clearly stipulated that the Raouche rocks shall not be illuminated at all, whether from land, sea, or air, and no light images shall be broadcast on them.”
He said he had asked the ministers of interior, justice and defense to take “appropriate measures, including arresting the perpetrators and referring them for investigation” and that the incident “negatively impacting (Hezbollah’s) credibility in dealing with the logic of the state and its institutions.”
A Hezbollah representative, who spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with the group’s procedures, confirmed that the organizers had only requested permission for the gathering.
He said it was unclear which agency had authority to give permission for the light show on the rock and that they considered it was covered by “freedom of expression” under Lebanon’s constitution.
The event was a show of force by the Shiite militant group and political party, which suffered serious blows in last year’s war with Israel and has been under domestic and international pressure to give up its remaining arsenal since then.
The conflict began a day after deadly the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that triggered the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. Hezbollah began firing rockets across the border in a “support front” for Hamas and Palestinians in Gaza. Israel responded with airstrikes and shelling, and the two sides were locked in a low-level conflict that escalated into a full-on war in September 2024.
It ended with a U.S.-brokered ceasefire in November, but Israel has continued to carry out near-daily airstrikes in Lebanon, which it says aim at precenting Hezbollah from regrouping.
The Lebanese government has said it will work on disarming Hezbollah and consolidating weapons in the hands of the state. Hezbollah officials have said they will not discuss handing over the groups weapons until Israel stops its airstrikes and withdraws its forces from several key border points they are occupying in southern Lebanon.
Lebanese officials have been reluctant to push the country’s cash-strapped army to forcibly disarm the group, fearing that such a move would lead to civil conflict.
