Hezbollah chief Qassem at Nasrallah memorial ceremony: Hezbollah will not give up its weapons, we are ready to fight over it

Lebanon on Saturday marked one year since Israel's killing of former Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. Crowds gathered in the evening in Hezbollah strongholds in Beirut, as well as in southern and eastern Lebanon, where Nasrallah's replacement, Secretary-General Naim Qassem, delivered a speech.

In his address, Qassem called on the Lebanese government to fulfill its duties regarding Lebanon’s reconstruction, Israel’s military withdrawal, a cessation of its attacks, and the release of Lebanese prisoners held by Israel.

Qassem made it clear that his organization will not disarm. He also stated that the Lebanese government must place national sovereignty at the top of its priorities and not allow Israel to remain in Lebanon. He called on the government to correct the grave mistake it made regarding its decisions to disarm Hezbollah.

Reports from Lebanon noted IDF drones circling over Beirut and Dahiyeh in parallel with the memorial ceremony for Nasrallah’s killing. The Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen channel published Nasrallah’s last photograph, taken days before his elimination, when he was in Hezbollah’s operations command room.

On Friday night, supporters already began arriving at the Dahiyeh area, where Nasrallah was killed, dressed in black, holding pictures of the former secretary-general and of his protégé Hashem Safi al-Din, who was also eliminated, while waving Hezbollah flags.

According to local media, Iranian National Security Council Chairman Ali Larijani landed in Beirut to participate in the anniversary events. It should be noted that in recent days, Lebanon reported that authorities did not allow the arrival of two Iranian planes carrying passengers intending to attend the events.

Nasrallah was eliminated by Israel exactly one year ago at the organization’s headquarters in Beirut's Dahiyeh neighborhood, during massive, continuous IDF strikes. He was killed in the afternoon, when Israeli Air Force jets dropped 83 tons of bombs on Hezbollah’s underground command center. The pilots, mostly from Squadron 69, were informed of the target only a few hours before takeoff.

Not long after, the official announcement reached the IDF – Nasrallah had been eliminated. At the same time, Lebanon publicly announced his death to the media. The strike was carried out while Hezbollah’s senior leadership was present at headquarters, coordinating terror operations against Israel. The code name for the operation that eliminated Nasrallah was “New Order.”

The sole decision-maker: The terrorist who was Hezbollah’s face

For 32 years of his tenure as the leader of the Hezbollah terrorist organization, Nasrallah was responsible for the murder of numerous Israeli civilians and soldiers, and for planning and executing thousands of terror operations against Israel and around the world. Nasrallah was the central decision-maker and the sole approver of Hezbollah’s strategic-systemic decisions, and at times even its tactical ones.

Nasrallah was born in 1960 in the town of Bourj Hammoud in Lebanon. He received his religious training in Najaf, Iraq, under Abbas al-Musawi. In 1978, he was expelled from the city along with other Lebanese and returned to his homeland. In 1982, Nasrallah joined a new terrorist organization founded by the Islamic Republic of Iran – Hezbollah. He later completed his Islamic studies in the city of Qom, Iran.

In 1992, Hezbollah Secretary-General Abbas al-Musawi was eliminated by Israel in Operation “Night Time,” and Nasrallah was appointed his successor. Following this, the organization also became involved in Lebanese politics and entered Parliament for the first time.

After the IDF withdrawal from the security zone in southern Lebanon, Nasrallah deployed Hezbollah forces along Israel’s northern border. In 2006, the abduction of two IDF soldiers led to the Second Lebanon War, after which Nasrallah went into hiding and only rarely appeared in public.