Tens of thousands gather for Nasrallah's funeral 5 months after his killing by Israel

Tens of thousands of people gathered in Beirut early Sunday to attend the funeral of Hezbollah's former leader, nearly five months after he was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital.

In the run-up to the funeral, giant portraits of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and his slain successor Sayyed Hashem Safieddine have been plastered on walls and bridges across south Beirut.

One was also hung above a stage erected on the pitch of the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium on the outskirts of the capital where the funeral for both leaders is to be held.

The stadium has a capacity of around 50,000 but Hezbollah organizers have installed thousands of extra seats on the pitch and many more outside, where mourners will be able to follow the ceremony on a giant screen.

Sahar al-Attar, a mourner who traveled from Lebanon’s Bekaa valley for the funeral said she still “cannot believe what happened.”

“We would have come even under bullets” to attend Nasrallah’s burial, she said. “It is an indescribable feeling.”

Since Saturday, roads into Beirut have been clogged with carloads of Hezbollah supporters traveling in from the movement's strongholds in south Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.

Nasrallah was killed when Israel's air force dropped more than 80 bombs on the group's main operations room. His death was a major blow for the Iran-backed group that the late leader transformed into a potent force in the Middle East.

Nasrallah was the group's leader for more than 30 years and one of its founders. He enjoyed wide influence among Iran-backed groups in the region and was widely respected in the so-called Iran-led axis of resistance that included Iraqi, Yemeni and Palestinian factions.

Officials from around the region including Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were expected to attend the funeral at the Lebanese capital's main sports stadium.

Araghchi, in a speech from Beirut, described the slain leaders as "two heroes of the resistance" and vowed that "the path of resistance will continue."

Lebanese officials including the parliament speaker and representatives of the president and prime minister were expected to attend the funeral believed to be Lebanon's largest in two decades.

Senior Hezbollah official Ali Daamoush told reporters Saturday that about 800 personalities from 65 countries will be attending the funeral in addition to thousands of individuals and activists who came from around the world.

"Come from every home, village and city so that we tell the enemy that this resistance will stay and is ready in the field," Daamoush said, referring to Israel.

Nasrallah will be laid to rest later Sunday near Beirut's airport while his cousin and successor Sayyed Hashem Safieddine, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb a few days later, will be laid to rest in his hometown in southern Lebanon. The two had temporarily been buried in secret locations. Hezbollah earlier this month announced plans for their official funerals.

Hezbollah has been calling on its supporters to attend the funeral in large numbers in what appears to be a move to show that the group remains powerful after suffering major blows during a 14-month war with Israel that left many of its senior political and military officials dead.

Another blow for Hezbollah was the fall in early December of the Assad family's five-decade rule in Syria that was a strong ally of the Lebanese group and a main route for the flow of weapons and money from Iran.

As part of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal that ended the war with Israel on Nov. 27, Hezbollah is not supposed to have an armed presence along the border with Israel. Hezbollah's rivals have been calling on the group to lay down its weapons all over Lebanon and become a political faction.

Hezbollah has prepared for the funeral by setting up the stadium to host tens of thousands of people while giant screens were placed along the airport road outside the stadium for people who won't get a space inside to watch the funeral. Tight security measures have been taken, including the closure of major roads in the area of the funeral.

Lebanese army and police forces were placed on alert and the army has banned the use of drones in Beirut and its suburbs during the day. Flights to and from Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport will stop for four hours starting at noon.

Hezbollah has given a title to the funeral: "We are committed to the covenant."

Nicholas Blanford, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said it was important for Hezbollah "to be able to demonstrate that they haven't been cowed -- that they are still a popular force".

The funeral is due to start at 1:00 pm (1100 GMT) and will include a speech by current leader Naim Qassem.

Hezbollah's Al-Manar television said the movement was deploying 25,000 stewards for crowd control and 4,000 more to supervise the event.

A security source said 4,000 troops and security personnel would also be deployed to the area.

Regular services from Iran have been suspended but airport chief Fadi al-Hassan said a flight from Tehran had been given permission to land before dawn on Sunday.

"It is only one flight, carrying official delegations from Tehran to participate in the funeral," Hassan told AFP.

Hezbollah has asked mourners to refrain from firing in the air, a common practice at funerals in parts of Lebanon.

The defense ministry said it would freeze gun licenses from February 22 to 25.

The Lebanese Army has banned drones from taking pictures in and around Beirut from Saturday evening until Sunday night.

A founding member of Hezbollah in 1982, Nasrallah won renown around the Arab world in May 2000 when Israel ended its 22-year occupation of south Lebanon under relentless attack by the group under his leadership.

In the decades since, views about Hezbollah in Lebanon have become increasingly polarized.

Many criticize the movement for its readiness to take the country to war with Israel in support of Palestinian militant group Hamas.

But in Shiite majority areas of the south and east, the movement retains a devoted following.

In Hezbollah's south Beirut bastion, Mariam Shorba, 80, told AFP she would attend Nasrallah's funeral "no matter the circumstances".

"This is a difficult day, because (Nasrallah) is very dear to us," she said. "No matter what we do, we cannot do him justice."