Tyre in southern Lebanon marks Muharram holy month after destruction from Israel-Hezbollah war

TYRE, Lebanon — Wearing a yellow scarf showing her son killed fighting for Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, Iman Dilbani wept during a religious sermon Friday in the battered southern city of Tyre during the Islamic holy month of Muharram.

Tyre, Lebanon’s fourth largest city, has been devastated by the Israel-Hezbollah war that reached a reported ceasefire Friday, with damaged buildings and structures reduced to rubble seen on almost every street following intense Israeli airstrikes.

Muharram is among the holiest months for Shiite Muslims and marks the martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, Imam Hussein, and his 72 companions in the battle of Karbala in the seventh century in present-day Iraq.

Dilbani and hundreds more gathered Friday in a lot in the coastal city for a mourning ceremony, many wearing scarves or holding portraits of relatives killed.

Portraits of Hezbollah leader Sheikh Naim Kassem and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei were placed above the podium, with the lot surrounded by red and black banners with Hussein’s name. A young girl held a portrait of Khamenei as she stood next to her father, who wept while listening to the sermon. The attendees wore black as they would at a funeral.

The devastating war in Lebanon makes the month of Muharram even more meaningful for its Shiite Muslims. Some residents placed banners with Hussein’s name on the ruins of their homes.

The mourning over the deaths of Hussein and his companions reaches to its peak on Ashoura, the 10th day of Muharram, which millions observe worldwide.

After Hezbollah fired rockets toward northern Israel on March 2 in solidarity with its ally Iran, Israel launched massive aerial bombardments that regularly struck Beirut and flattened large areas of southern and eastern Lebanon. Over one million Lebanese remain displaced, and Israeli ground forces invaded the country, controlling swaths of southern Lebanon. Almost 4,000 people have been killed in Israeli strikes, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

Hezbollah meanwhile fired rockets and launched drone attacks into northern Israel.

“Given what has been happening in our world today, and seeing the martyrs and the destruction, no human mind can bear all of that unless they are a believer in the teachings of Imam Hussein,” said Sheikh Abdulkareem al-Rahi, one of the event’s organizers.

Shiite Muslims say Hussein’s values teach steadfastness and the importance of fighting against injustice, no matter how difficult.

“We learned from Imam Hussein’s teachings the struggle and martyrdom, and to stay on his path and to offer our youth,” Dilbani said. “I have three more sons, and I am willing to offer more of them if there is a need.”

Lebanon has been scrambling for a ceasefire, and the United States’ ceasefire agreement with Iran includes ending hostilities in the tiny Mediterranean country, though the fighting has not ended. Hezbollah has maintained that it will continue fighting as long as Israel continues to strike and occupy parts of southern Lebanon.

Israel and Hezbollah agreed to halt fighting Friday, although the failure of past ceasefires has left many in Lebanon skeptical.

A cleric speaking through a sound system at the event slammed Hezbollah critics who say they lost the war, despite the heavy losses, comparing their situation to that of the revered imam in Karbala.

Imam Hussein’s teachings “are an institution, in every way, in their values and their pride,” said Sheikh Ibrahim Qassir, the imam of the town of Deir Qanoun En Nahr near Tyre, which was widely damaged during the war.

“And that is why we are still here, and we will be victorious, and victorious, and victorious.”