Dozens of Lebanese gather in Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut to show support for Palestinians

(8 Oct 2023) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: AUDIO AS INCOMING ASSOCIATED PRESS Beirut, Lebanon - 8 October 2023 1. Various of crowds including group of women at rally, protesters waving Lebanese, Palestinian and Hezbollah flags 2. Top Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine on stage 3. Crowd at rally chanting 4. Various of people chanting, UPSOUND (Arabic): “Death to Israel” 5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Nashed Qubesi, protester: “We have a cause today, we are here to support our brothers in the resistance in occupied Palestine. We have a very important message to the Zionist normalisers, the head of whom is Mohammed bin Salman, may God damn him, the Yazid (Ibn Muawiya) of our time (referring to a historical figure). He wants to sell the Palestinian cause and he wants to sell the blood of the martyrs. This win (yesterday) that was established by the resistance youth in Palestine is a message to all the normalisers in Arab nations, who consider themselves Arab when they are just rubbish, unfortunately.“ 6. Various of crowd at rally 7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Manar Shamiyah, protestor: “For me, it was the greatest day of victories in our generation. Even with the first and third Intifada (a word coined to describe an uprising against Israel’s military occupation, the first of which erupted in 1987), this was still the greatest operation in our history. It was one of the greatest days of our history.“ 8. Various of women in crowd, chanting 9. Various of crowd STORYLINE: Hundreds of protesters gathered on Sunday in a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut to show support for Palestinians, a day after an unprecedented surprise attack on Israel by Hamas militants. People at the rally in the southern Beirut suburb waved Hezbollah and Palestinian flags while chanting “death to Israel.“ The rally was led by top Hezbollah official Hashem Safieddine and many of the participants held pictures of the assassinated Gen. Qassim Soleimani, the architect of Iran’s regional military activities who was killed in 2020 in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq. Among the people at the rally was Nashed Qubesi, an activist who donned the Hezbollah uniform. “We have a cause today, we are here to support our brothers in the resistance in occupied Palestine,“ he said. Hamas militants, backed by a volley of thousands of rockets, broke through Israel’s security barrier on Saturday and rampaged through nearby communities. The surprise attack was the deadliest on Israel in decades. Civilians paid a staggering cost for the violence on both sides. “It was the greatest day of victories in our generation,“ said Manar Shamiyah, a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon. Israeli soldiers were on Sunday battling Hamas fighters in the streets of southern Israel and have launched retaliation strikes that leveled buildings in Gaza. In northern Israel a brief exchange of strikes with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group raised fears of a broader conflict. In Iran, which has long supported Hamas and other militant groups, senior officials have openly praised the incursion. AP video shot by Fay Abuelgasim =========================================================== Clients are reminded to adhere to all listed restrictions and to check the terms of their licence agreements. For further assistance, please contact the AP Archive on: Tel 44(0)2074827482 Email: info@. Find out more about AP Archive: Twitter: Facebook: ​​ Instagram: You can license this story through AP Archive: