He Lebanon Everything remained silent for a moment on Saturday afternoon. Around 2:30 p.m., Hezbollah confirmed the worst news that the Shiite militia party expected to give that day: its leader, Hassan Nasrallahwas dead. For an instant, an entire country turned to the screen and saw how the presenter al-Mayadeen – a half-satellite of Hezbollah – his voice was torn as he confirmed that the Israeli army had achieved its objective on Friday evening by bombing six buildings of Dahié districtsouth of Beirut.
The capital has not regained its rhythm of the day. Many immediately understood that the assassination of Nasrallah, leader of the organization for 32 yearswould stir up sedition in the ranks of Hezbollah. The premonition left Beirut deserted and ready to be the scene of its largest funeral vigil. Around 3 p.m., the shooting started. Gusts against the sky as the only response to the helplessness of being a follower of one absolutely headless movement in a few days. Anyone was the enemy: journalists, foreigners and small business owners who had decided to close their businesses.
The Lebanese army immediately deployed its best tanks. About a dozen of them crossed in both directions the Corniche, the waterfront promenade in central Beirut where hundreds of people have been sleeping since Friday. displaced families from Dahie. The men remaining in the neighborhood, Hezbollah stronghold and the most densely populated area of the capital, were involved. processions with portraits of Nasrallah and party flags. From the balconies, their wives cried with the pain of orphans. Their leader, the greatest consolation for many Lebanese since the September 17 escalation, was already a martyr.
In the background, the bombs were a reminder that Israel had not completed its mission in Beirut, the Bekah and southern Lebanon. During Saturday’s attacks, the Israeli army managed to kill 33 people in a foreign country without it even becoming relevant.
No shooting or crying in the Christian neighborhoods of the city. A rigorous silence. In a small supermarket, entire families gather with the intention of not leaving their homes until the matter is clarified. The owner of a fruit store wonders whether to close or not. “People keep coming, but I want to go home now. I have to cross half of Beirut to get back and They say there are people shooting there. I will come back before things get worse,” he said after regaining his determination. A hairdresser refuses to let Nasrallah’s assassination change his Saturday routine. “They won’t do anything here, they know this neighborhood is not theirs.”. In fact, wait a few hours: you will see how people will go out to party and everything,” he predicted to the journalist.
For the moment, there have been no unrest between religious communities. This was despite Lebanese government sources telling Reuters that security forces were preparing for a possible outbreak of interfaith tensions. In fact, the words of Saad Haririformer Sunni Muslim prime minister, encouraged the opposite. son of also first Rafic Hariri, assassinated in 2005, Saad called Nasrallah’s assassination a “cowardly act”, even though the United Nations Special Tribunal for Lebanon ruled that Hezbollah was involved in his father’s death. “Lebanon continues to be above parties, sects and interests. Relieve the suffering of our people and our collaborators from all regions “It’s a national priority.”Saad Hariri said in a statement.
Hezbollah supporters chant slogans after the announcement of the death of their leader in Lebanon.
In the street, a young Christian also feels that what happened this week in her city has an impact on her. “I don’t agree with him [el líder de Hezbolá]. I’m a Christian and what’s more I hate religion. “I don’t like the way he thinks on many issues,” he explains, setting the stage for his counterargument. “But “This is the resistance we have, and without it we would still be occupied by Israel.”he infers, referring to the great success that was for Nasrallah the expulsion of the Israeli army from southern Lebanon after the 2006 war.
“We are sold, They can now occupy the entire south of the Litani River, that neither our government, nor the United States, nor the UN will be able to stop it. Hezb [partido, como muchos se refieren aquí a la organización de Nasralá] He is the only one who fought for this land», he adds. And he prophesies: “Now this country is going to screw up even more. Muslims, Christians, Druze… We are all in the hands of Israel.”
