ISLAMABAD: Thousands of people took to the streets in cities across Pakistan on Sunday, following Hezbollah’s confirmation of the death of its longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon.
Approximately 4,000 protesters gathered in Islamabad, while another 3,000 assembled in Karachi for rallies and funeral prayers to honor Nasrallah.
Hezbollah announced on Saturday that Nasrallah had been killed in an airstrike targeting Beirut’s southern suburbs the previous day, a significant loss for the group he had commanded for decades.
“We are here to stand against what Israel is doing in Palestine and Lebanon,” said 27-year-old Taskeen Zafar during the Islamabad rally. “This is why we are here today.”
Nasrallah’s death marks a major escalation in a nearly year-long exchange of cross-border fire between Hezbollah and Israel, threatening to ignite broader conflict in the region. Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a strong statement on Sunday, condemning the Israeli action.
“Pakistan strongly condemns the growing Israeli adventurism in the Middle East,” the ministry said. “The reckless act of killing the Secretary General of Hezbollah in Lebanon constitutes a major escalation in an already volatile region.”
Hezbollah had begun low-intensity cross-border strikes on Israeli forces shortly after its ally, Hamas, launched a massive attack on Israel on October 7. Since then, the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel has intensified, with Israel recently announcing a renewed focus on its northern front.
Hamas’s October 7 assault, which took Israel by surprise, left 1,205 people dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.
on the other hand, Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza has resulted in the deaths of at least 41,595 people, primarily civilians, as reported by Gaza’s health ministry. The United Nations has verified these figures as reliable.
