BEIRUT (Reuters) -Lebanese armed group Hezbollah on Saturday will commemorate one year since its then-chief Hassan Nasrallah was killed by Israel, the opening salvo of a war that ultimately battered his once-powerful group and left swathes of Lebanon in ruins.
On the evening of September 27, 2024, a string of Israeli bunker-busting bombs on a Hezbollah complex in Beirut’s southern suburbs killed Nasrallah, who had led the powerful Shi’ite religious, political and military group for more than 30 years.
Nasrallah’s death and the war that followed dealt huge blows to the Iran-backed group. His heir apparent Hashem Safieddine was killed weeks later. By December, Hezbollah’s Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad was toppled. Now pressure is swelling on the group to disarm – a demand Hezbollah has rejected.
Nasrallah became secretary general of Hezbollah in 1992 aged just 35 after his predecessor, Sayyed Abbas al-Musawi, was killed in an Israeli helicopter attack.
With his fiery speeches, he swiftly became the public face of a once-shadowy group founded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982 to fight Israeli occupation forces.
He was at the helm when Hezbollah guerrillas drove Israeli forces from southern Lebanon in 2000, ending an 18-year occupation, and declared a
Hezbollah Marks One Year Since Israel Killed Then-Chief Nasrallah
