Funeral of Hezbollah 'prince' turns into mass anti-Israel rally

Hezbollah Military Commander of the Syrian Golan Jihad Mughniyeh was buried on Monday amid cries of "Death to Israel" and "Death to America" from the masses of mourners who joined the funeral procession through the streets the Dahiyeh neighborhood of Beirut.

Mughniyeh and five other Hezbollah members were, according foreign reports, killed by an IAF helicopter missile strike in the Quneitra region of Syria, near the border with Israel in the Golan Heights on Sunday.

Funerals for the other Hezbollah officials killed in the strike were also held on Monday, including that of Chief of Hezbollah operations in Syria and Iraq Mohammed Issa (Abu Issa) and those of Abbas Hijazi, Mohammed Hasan, Ghazi Ali Dawi and Ali Ibrahim.

Iran's Fars News Agency reported that a six of its Revolutionary Guard officers were also killed in the strike, including Brig. Gen. Mohammad Ali Allahdadi. According to the report, Allahdadi was in Syria to advise the Syrian military in its fight against rebel forces in the ongoing civil war there.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif condemned Sunday's strike, saying, "We strongly condemn any such move and attack and so this act by the Zionist regime is also condemned, but with its historic background in our region we wouldn't expect otherwise from the Zionist regime."

Syria's Reconciliation Minister, Ali Haidar, also condemned the strike, calling it a turning point.

"I say today that all options are open for Syrians to defend their country, land, sovereignty and independence towards this continuous aggression. Israel will regret this attack in the near future because it was the one that broke the truce agreement with Syria," he said at a meeting to discuss a Russian initiative to resolve Syria's ongoing civil war.

Meanwhile, Lebanese news station Al Mayadeen showed images of the scene of the strike, in which bodies and parts of the vehicles that had been hit could be seen.

According to Lebanese reports, the 12 Hezbollah and Iranian officials were travelling in a convoy of two vehicles when they were struck. In the reports, eyewitnesses to the strike said they saw two missiles hit the convoy, causing all the ammunition to explode and killing the passengers on the spot.

A Hezbollah official interviewed on Al-Manar TV said the group had not yet ruled out the possibility that someone working closely with the commanders had informed Israel as to their specific whereabouts.

Lebanese media outlets identified with Hezbollah are calling the strike a cause for war and warning of the severity of a Lebanese counterattack on Israel.

Ibrahim al-Amin, editor of Al Akhbar newspaper, which is widely considered to be pro-Hezbollah, described what he pictured as Hezbollah's future response to the strike, writing that the terrorist group would launch 4,000 to 5,000 rockets at Israel in a single day.

However, some Hezbollah officials have said that while the group would respond harshly, it would take care not to start a large-scale war that would give Israel an opportunity to cause destruction in Lebanon.

טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו