Tens of thousands of mourners packed Beirut's Sports City Stadium on February 23 to bid farewell to Hezbollah's former leader Hassan Nasrallah and his successor Hashem Safieddine, nearly five months after both were killed in Israeli airstrikes, local Shi'ite media sources reported.

Security measures transformed Lebanon's capital as crowds converged for what officials called the country's largest funeral in two decades. The Lebanese army implemented tight restrictions, including temporary airport closures and drone bans across Beirut and its suburbs.

"Today we bid farewell to an exceptional historical, national, Arab and Islamic leader," Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Kassem said in a televised address. "The resistance is still present and strong in numbers and weapons, and the inevitable victory is coming."

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a statement read by his representative Mojtaba Hosseini, declared that Nasrallah had "reached the peak of glory" while warning that "resistance against usurpation, oppression and arrogance remains and will not stop until the desired goal is achieved," Iran's IRNA reported.

Nasrallah, who led Hezbollah for over 30 years, was killed when Israel dropped more than 80 bombs on the group's operations centre in southern Beirut. Safieddine died in a separate strike days later. Both had been temporarily buried in undisclosed locations.

The atmosphere turned defiant when Israeli jets flew low over the stadium during the ceremony. The crowd responded with chants of "Death to Israel" as recordings of Nasrallah's speeches from the 2006 war played through loudspeakers.

"We would have come even under bullets," said mourner Sahar al-Attar, who travelled from Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. "It is an indescribable feeling."

Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, attended after Lebanon apparently lifted its ban on flights from Iran. The restriction had been imposed following Israeli claims that Iran was smuggling cash to Hezbollah on commercial flights. Israel maintained its military pressure during the funeral, launching strikes in southern and eastern Lebanon.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the air force presence over Beirut sent "a clear message: whoever threatens to annihilate Israel and strike Israel - that will be his end."

It comes as the IDF wrote earlier on February 23: "A short while ago, the IDF struck military sites containing rocket launchers and weapons where Hezbollah activity was identified in the area of Baalbek and several additional areas in southern Lebanon."

The funeral comes as Hezbollah faces significant challenges, including the fall of Syria's Assad regime in December - a key ally that facilitated Iranian support.

Under a US-brokered ceasefire agreement from November 27, the group is barred from maintaining an armed presence along the Israeli border.

According to senior Hezbollah official Ali Daamoush, around 800 personalities from 65 countries, along with thousands of individuals and activists from around the world, are attending the funeral.

The funeral follows a period of intense conflict between Israel and Lebanon, which culminated in a ceasefire agreement on November 27, 2024. The ceasefire, mediated by the United States and France, ended a conflict that began in October 2023 and escalated with an Israeli invasion of Lebanon in October 2024.