At the grocery store at the entrance to the Shiite district of Khandak Al-Ghamik in central Beirut, the cashier is inconsolable. Wearing a dark veil, the young Lebanese woman has not been able to hold back her tears since Hezbollah confirmed, early in the afternoon of Saturday, September 28, the death of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, killed in an Israeli attack the day before in the south. . suburbs, a stronghold of the Shiite party. Many Shiites had developed a sense of intimacy with the charismatic leader.
Throughout the grocery store, time seems to have stopped. Mute men, with somber faces, sit on plastic chairs, waiting for instructions on the ceremonies. A man has bandages on both hands and face, like many Hezbollah recruits, injured by the explosion of their beeper, due to sabotage attributed to Israel, ten days ago. The men remain standing under the porch of a building, protected from possible stray bullets. At regular intervals, bursts of gunshots echo in the air, in homage to the “martyr”.
In the heart of the neighborhood, the atmosphere is electric. Young people are on the edge, between anger and the feeling of abandonment. The Shiite party leadership has not yet given them any directives. Local Hezbollah leaders are not sure they can handle them. Journalists are encouraged to stay away from this moment of contemplation and grief, which could boil over at any moment.
The astonishment is due, first of all, to the speed with which Hezbollah, a political and military movement that had acquired the stature of a powerful regional non-state actor, was decapitated. “In ten days, history acceleratedsays Ali Mourad, professor and political activist. Hezbollah has suffered substantial losses, although what remains of the organization remains to be seen. »
“He was everything to us”
“The community has lost its way. It lost its absolute leader, who symbolized its strength and its hegemony in the Lebanese political scene.continues Mr. Mourad. The sense of power and pride projected by Hassan Nasrallah, whose aura was unmatched within the Shiite community, gave way to vulnerability.
“Sayyed Nasrallah’s death will not break the movement, but it breaks our hearts. He was everything for us and everything for Lebanon, like a father, like an idol. We grew up with him. He showed us the way. “They killed him because his goals were great”Hussein (name has been changed) said, his eyes red. He lost nine members of his family in strikes in the southern suburbs this week. This 21-year-old Party of God volunteer distributes water to the displaced, who found refuge last night in Martyrs’ Square, in the center of Beirut.
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