Naim Qassem, leader of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, addressed supporters in Beirut on Sept. 27, the anniversary of the killing of longtime chief Hassan Nasrallah. Qassem said Israel had failed to defeat the group. He voiced readiness for talks, while saying Israeli forces must first leave the south and residents must be able to return.
AFP correspondents estimated that tens of thousands attended the rally near Nasrallah’s tomb in Beirut’s southern suburbs. Some carried Hezbollah, Lebanese and Iranian flags or portraits of the slain leader. Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sept. 27, 2024, after more than two months of full-scale fighting that weakened Hezbollah and decimated its senior ranks. His chosen successor, Hashem Safieddine, was killed in another strike days later.
After a November 2024 ceasefire, Lebanese authorities committed to disarming Hezbollah and banned its military activity. The group drew Lebanon into a wider regional conflict in March 2026 by attacking Israel. Israel responded with extensive airstrikes and a ground invasion; Lebanon says those operations have killed more than 4,300 people. The latest hostilities have further weakened Hezbollah.
Violence declined after a fragile ceasefire was announced in June, following a U.S.-Iran understanding. Lebanon and Israel later agreed on a framework under which Hezbollah is to disarm and the Lebanese army deploy in pilot zones in the south as Israeli forces withdraw. Progress has largely stalled. Israel says it will remain as long as Hezbollah poses a threat and still keeps troops in a self-declared security zone about 10 kilometres inside southern Lebanon.
Qassem accused Lebanese authorities of helping an Israeli-U.S. plan and said the national army should not be used against Hezbollah. He said holding territory was not the group’s main objective. On Sept. 27, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for annexing areas under Israeli military control as far as the Litani River, about 30 kilometres from the border. At the rally, supporters—including people from southern Lebanon—said they intended to continue Nasrallah’s path.