Protests and Threats from Hezbollah Supporters Target the Home of MP Marwan Hamadeh
On Friday evening, a furious protest gathering took place around the home of Lebanese MP Marwan Hamadeh, organized by Hezbollah supporters, who raised slogans and set off fireworks as part of messages of condemnation and threats, following statements made by the MP regarding the event held by the party in the Ras Beirut area.
In response to these developments, MP Hamadeh, a member of the "Democratic Gathering," issued a statement on Saturday denying "categorically" that he had intended to refer to the Ras Beirut event or the memory of the party's former Secretary-General, Mr. Hassan Nasrallah, "in any offensive words." He clarified that his reference during a television intervention on "Al-Hadath" channel to the "heated funeral" was solely aimed at addressing "the crisis that arose governmentally and administratively" regarding the lighting of the Rock of Raouché and the tensions that accompanied it. He affirmed in his statement that he holds "great respect for all the martyrs of Lebanon, the martyrs of the resistance, and for Mr. Hassan Nasrallah and his comrades."
Hezbollah had held an event last Thursday at the famous rock in Raouché, illuminating it with images of its two former Secretaries-General, Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safi al-Din _who were assassinated by Israel last year_ thus bypassing the decision of the Beirut governor, who allowed the event to take place without permitting "the display or lighting of any party images or rituals on the rock."
For his part, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned this step, which observers described as "a challenge to the state." Salam clarified in a statement that he communicated with the ministers of interior, justice, and defense, and requested them to "take appropriate measures, including the arrest of the perpetrators and referring them for investigation to face the consequences according to the applicable laws."
The Prime Minister considered that what happened "constitutes a coup against the explicit commitments of the organizing party and its supporters, and represents a new setback for them that negatively impacts their credibility in dealing with the logic of the state and its institutions."
Alongside the demonstration, Hezbollah supporters and sympathizers launched campaigns on social media that included threats and insults against MP Hamadeh, vowing to him.
It is noted that Israel assassinated Hassan Nasrallah on September 27, 2024, in raids on the party's headquarters in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Four days later, Hashem Safi al-Din was elected as the party's Secretary-General, only to meet a similar fate and be assassinated by Israeli aircraft on October 3, 2024.
These events come as Hezbollah is believed to be going through one of its most politically and militarily challenging phases, after losing dozens of its senior leaders and the destruction of hundreds of its positions and warehouses during what it termed the "Support War" launched in support of the Gaza Strip, emerging from it _according to its expression_ "much weaker."
