Syrians celebrate Hassan Nasrallah’s death
Syrians danced in the streets of the north-western city of Idlib on Saturday to celebrate the death of Hassan Nasrallah.
As news of Israel’s strike on the headquarters of Hezbollah in Beirut spread through the rebel-held city, people cheered and clapped while passing drivers honked their horns.
Guns were shot in the air as fireworks exploded in the sky in the north-western region that has been locked in conflict with president Bashar al-Assad since war broke out in 2011.
Here, Nasrallah is seen as a key ally of Assad, responsible for assisting his brutal crackdown on opponents and helping to turn the tide of the civil war in his favour.
While Hezbollah’s core motivation is to defeat Israel, Nasrallah sent thousands of soldiers to fight alongside Assad’s forces.
It was “the most beautiful day of my life,” said Ahmed al-Ali, 30, who hated Nasrallah and his foot soldiers for killing many of his friends.
Yasmine Muhammad, 30, said she felt an “overwhelming happiness that cannot be described” when she heard of Nasrallah’s death.
“I consider this revenge for the thousands of Syrians who were killed by Hezbollah, the main support of Bashar al-Assad,” she said. “Hezbollah committed the most heinous massacres against Syrians, and it also participated in the starvation and displacement of thousands of Syrians.”
Nasrallah was a “criminal… who caused pain to the Syrian people through killing, displacement, and bombing, and his standing with Bashar al-Assad,” said Ahmad Taama, 27. “He stole our dreams and ambitions. He killed many young Syrians in the prime of their lives.”
“Unfortunately, we lost everything because of Nasrallah and Assad – our home, our work, our store. Literally, everything, because of these criminals,” said Omar Ghazal, 24.
“Now I hope that the region will be more stable and better without this criminal.”
