Hundreds of people rallied on Wednesday evening in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, in support of Iran and its allies in the Middle East war, AFP correspondents said.
The rally came despite the ongoing war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah, with Israel pounding south and east Lebanon daily and still occasionally striking Beirut’s southern suburbs, known locally as Dahiyeh, most recently on Sunday.
AFP correspondents said hundreds of people including many women and children were at the rally, some waving Hezbollah or Iranian flags.
Some held images of Iranian leaders, including the current supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, and his father and predecessor Ali Khamenei, who was killed in US-Israeli strikes on February 28 at the start of the Middle East war.
Others held images of former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in massive Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs in September 2024 during a previous round of hostilities.
“We are here Dahiyeh in solidarity with the resistance, to send a message that we are steadfast,” Samar Hammoud, 54, told AFP at the rally.
“Their planes don’t frighten us, their weapons don’t frighten us. We will stay and struggle and we will be victorious, God willing.”
Some women held pictures of relatives killed in Israeli strikes in the latest war, while some children waved the Lebanese flag as the crowd chanted slogans in support of Iran, Hezbollah, Gaza and Yemen.
Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza are part of an “axis of resistance” grouping of pro-Iran forces opposed to Israel and the United States.
In Yemen on Wednesday evening, the Houthi rebels’ Al-Masirah channel reported crowds holding a similar gathering in Sanaa, with images of scores of demonstrators in the Yemeni capital, which is held by the Iran-backed group.
Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 with rocket fire at Israel to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader.
Israel has responded with massive airstrikes and a ground invasion.
Tehran insists a halt to the wider Middle East conflict must include a ceasefire in Lebanon, and it launched missiles at Israel on Sunday in response to Israel bombing Beirut’s southern suburbs earlier that day, sparking Israeli strikes on Iran before both sides halted their fire.
Iran has warned it will resume attacks on Israel if the latter keeps striking Lebanon.
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