Israel’s killing of longtime Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah last week was celebrated not only in Israel, but throughout the Middle East and beyond.
The death of the terrorist leader, who led the Iranian-backed Shi’ite organization for the last 32 years, was marked by demonstrations and festivities in the region, including in bitterly divided sectarian Lebanon, in Syria and even in Iran itself.
While Nasrallah was closely allied with Syrian President Bashar Assad and helped him brutally crush Assad’s opponents in the Syrian Civil War, in areas outside government control Syrians celebrated, including in the jihadist-run rebel bastion of Idlib, where people waved Syrian flags and handed out sweets early Saturday, cheering and honking car horns even before news of his death was confirmed.
Even in Iran, Hezbollah’s chief patron, citizens opposed to the radical Islamist regime quietly toasted news of his death.
A video posted on social media showed a group of Iranian women, their faces hidden, saying in Persian that they, “the children of Iran, send a congratulatory message to everyone for the death of Hassan Nasrallah and congratulate the Iranian nation,” and sending a special thank you to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Pro-shah Iranians also gathered both outside the Israeli Embassy in London and in Toronto to celebrate, singing, handing out sweets and thanking Israel for killing the longtime terror leader.
