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BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Interior Ministry contacted Hezbollah officials on Thursday to intervene after plans to project an image of former party chief Hassan Nasrallah onto a prominent Beirut landmark sparked outrage among lawmakers, a senior political source told Arab News.

The initiative was part of events planned to mark the first anniversary of the deaths of Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine, both former secretaries-general of the group, who were killed during the war with Israel.

Ali Daher, head of Hezbollah’s media activities unit, announced that the commemorations would include illuminating Raouche Rock, a landmark off the coast of Beirut, on Sept. 25 with the images of Nasrallah and Safieddine.

However, the announcement sparked a wave of discontent and protests among a group of Beirut MPs, who recalled a history of political and security disputes between Beirut and Hezbollah, and unanimously agreed that the Raouche Rock “must not be used in partisan contexts.”

The controversy was further fueled by the fact that Hezbollah had not obtained approval from the Beirut Governorate, the municipality, or any relevant official authority before proceeding with plans involving one of the capital’s key landmarks.

“Communications intensified on Thursday to pre-empt any escalation of Hezbollah’s move, with the interior minister directly engaging the group’s leadership to resolve the issue,” an official political source told Arab News.

Hezbollah MP Amin Sherri, who is also an MP for Beirut, confirmed that this communication had taken place.

He told Arab News: “It was just an idea that was floated, and I do not think that such an activity requires the approval of the capital’s governor or its municipality. Perhaps it just needs prior notice.”

Sherri questioned whether the commemoration of former president Bachir Gemayel’s assassination in Ashrafieh Square last week, or recent religious ceremonies held along the Ain El Mraiseh corniche, had obtained prior approval from authorities.

Beirut MP Waddah Sadek described plans to project images of the former Hezbollah leaders as “unacceptable from every perspective.”

“They are not official figures, and their pictures are being displayed in a city where most residents reject their policies,” Sadek said, noting that some Lebanese accuse them of involvement in the killing of their leader, Rafic Hariri.

“What is worse is that Hezbollah, which warns in its speeches against sliding into civil war, never misses an occasion to provoke the residents of the capital,” Sadek added.

He told Arab News that his opposing stance reflects that of Beirut’s residents, who saw this activity as “a provocation, which could have been avoided by proposing another location to hold the event.”

Beirut MP Nadim Gemayel said the Raouche Rock “is not an advertising billboard for any political party,” nor “a canvas” for symbolic displays that undermine Beirut’s identity. Rather, he said, it is public property and belongs to all the Lebanese people.

“Imposing Hezbollah’s symbols on the seafront is an exclusion of the Lebanese voice, especially the people of Beirut who reject the idea of weapons and domination.

“Beirut refuses to be reduced to one sect or political project.”

Tripoli MP Ashraf Rifi, who previously served as minister of justice from 2014 to 2016 and as director general of the Internal Security Forces from 2005 to 2013, voiced his “categorical rejection of any attempt to use the Raouche Rock to promote slogans or positions rejected by the capital’s residents and unrepresentative of its identity.”

He said that Raouche Rock “is not only a natural landmark, but also the face of Beirut and Lebanon and a unifying national symbol in which all Lebanese take pride.”

“It is not a platform for unacceptable sectarianism,” he said.

Beirut MP and Lebanese Forces member Ghassan Hasbini said that the Raouche Rock should be draped “only in the nation’s colors and not in any other slogan.”

Beirut MP Nabil Badr said the landmark is a reflection of Beirut and Lebanon, and should not turn into a platform for hanging political pictures.

Beirut MP and Islamic Group member Imad Al-Hout said Beirut needs steps that unify the Lebanese instead of initiatives that deepen the division.

Meanwhile, Beirut MP Fouad Makhzoumi described the move as “provocative and unauthorized.”

However, Qassem Qassir, political writer with expertise in Islamic movements and close ties to Hezbollah, described the state of provocation that accompanied Hezbollah’s proposal as “a case of politicians exploiting a non-existent issue.”

Qassir told Arab News: “people in Beirut welcomed their brothers fleeing from the southern suburb and the south into their homes during the last Israeli war, and I don’t think they will object to the hanging of pictures, for just a few minutes, of two leaders who are no longer with us.”

Hezbollah is facing mounting pressure to hand over its weapons to the Lebanese army amid broad Lebanese support for the government’s decision to restrict weapons to the state’s authority.

The group said it was reorganizing its internal structure and working to restore its partisan capacity following the significant blow it sustained during last year’s war with Israel.

Recent reports in Lebanese media indicated that the privileges previously granted to Hezbollah officials and Palestinian factions have been suspended after a decision by Lebanon’s security and military authorities.

They reported that the use of facilitation cards issued by Hezbollah’s Security Committee — which previously granted holders freedom of movement and priority access — has been permanently suspended, in line with the cabinet’s decision to restrict weapons exclusively to state institutions.

BEIRUT: Israel carried out air strikes on three towns in southern Lebanon on Thursday shortly after warning people to flee, Lebanese state media and the Israeli military said.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported several strikes on Mais Al-Jabal, a border town ravaged by the last war, as well as Debbin and Kfar Tibnit.
The NNA said roads from Kfar Tibnit were full of people who had left their homes ahead of the attacks.
The Israeli military said it was “conducting strikes on Hezbollah military targets in southern Lebanon.”
Israel has kept up its strikes on southern Lebanon despite a truce signed in November that ended more than a year of hostilities and two months of open war with Hezbollah.
It has also maintained troops in five locations in the south of Lebanon it deems strategic.
The Israeli military had urged residents of various areas of southern Lebanon to evacuate, saying it would strike Hezbollah targets.
It published maps of four buildings in three different villages in southern Lebanon, calling on residents of the buildings and adjacent constructions to evacuate “immediately” and “stay at least 500 meters (yards) away.”
The latest Israeli strikes came a day after Hezbollah commemorated a year since Israel blew up hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by its members, killing dozens and wounding thousands.
That attack happened almost one year into cross-border fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese group that was sparked by the Gaza war between Israel and Hezbollah’s Palestinian ally Hamas.
Ahead of Thursday’s strikes, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam had called for “maximum pressure” on Israel to stop its attacks on his country.
Under US pressure, Beirut has ordered the Lebanese army to draw up a plan to disarm Hezbollah in areas near the Israeli border by the end of the year.
Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi said last week that Lebanon’s army would fully disarm the Iran-backed group near the border within three months.
Hezbollah, who rejected Beirut’s plan, is currently preparing to commemorate the death of its leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs in late September 2024.