Hundreds of thousands of people, mainly followers of the pro-Iranian Shiite movement Hezbollah, participated for hours in the funeral of the Iran-backed Shiite militia leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed by Israel five months ago.
An estimated 400,000 people were at the funeral ceremony, which started at noon (1000 GMT) and lasted until sundown, according to a Lebanese security agent who requested anonymity for not having permission to speak.
The ceremony opened with a reading of a speech by the Iranian religious leader Ali Khamenei. After a prayer, the coffins of Nasrallah and his cousin and expected successor, Hashem Safieddine, were rolled into the stadium on a truck. The Israeli army killed Safieddine shortly after it killed Nasrallah.
At the sight of the coffins, draped with yellow Hezbollah flags, people broke into cheers and tears, throwing scarves and other items of clothing.
"Nasrallah loved the people and the people loved him. He is the leader of our thoughts and hearts," said Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Kassim in a speech broadcast via video. "Even if our houses are destroyed over our heads, we will not give up the resistance."
Iran, the militia's most important supporter, showed its presence. In addition to a delegation of important clerics sent by religious leader Khamenei, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghtschi and parliamentary president Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf arrived, as reported by the Tasnim news agency.
Senior members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and representatives from Iraq, where Hezbollah has strong support among the Shiite population, also travelled to the event. Memorial ceremonies were held in parallel in Iraq and Yemen.
Afterwards, a large procession went to the mausoleum in the Beirut suburb of Burj al-Barajneh for the burial. Safieddine's grave is in his hometown of Dair Kanun in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah's television channel broadcast a farewell message in its nightly bulletin. "He is our past, present and future," one Hezbollah follower said.
Israeli war planes during the funeral
As the funeral ceremony was on going in a sports stadium in Beirut four Israeli warplanes flew very low over the main site of the funeral after Nasrallah and Safieddine were brought in on a large six wheel truck which was transfered to carry the two coffins.
As the planes overflew over the stadium the crowd chanted "Death to Israel."
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the fighter jets over Beirut were supposed to send a clear message: "You will specialize in funerals - and we in victories."
The Israeli army also released videos of the deadly bombing raid on the Hezbollah bunker that killed Nasrallah.
Other leading members of the Iranian-backed Shiite militia were also killed in the massive airstrike in a suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut on September 27.
Earlier in the day, Israeli fighter jets attacked targets near the Lebanese coastal city of Tyre and in eastern Lebanon, injuring a Syrian girl, Lebanon's state news agency NNA reported. There were initially no reports of fatalities.
Israel and Hezbollah had been exchanging heavy fire for more than a year before a ceasefire, which has been largely observed, was agreed at the end of November.
Slain leader's influence
For his supporters, Nasrallah was more than just a leader. Under his leadership, the organization developed into a major political and military power in Lebanon.
In the Middle East, he shaped Hezbollah into a central player. With selected rhetoric and clever staging, Nasrallah styled himself as the protector of the Shiite community and the - supposedly invincible - enemy of Israel.
The European Union, the United States, Israel and others classify Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.
His death leaves a deep gap - not only in Hezbollah's hierarchy, but also in its identity. "He was like a father figure," Hezbollah expert Hanin Ghaddar from the Washington Institute told dpa.