MAJDAL SELM, Lebanon, July 18, 2026 (v7n)– Hezbollah held a mass funeral on Saturday for dozens of people—mostly fighters killed in recent fighting with Israel—in the southern Lebanese village of Majdal Selm, as the Iran-backed group buried 44 individuals amid ongoing tensions following a US-Iran ceasefire deal.
The Shia group, which drew Lebanon into the Middle East war by attacking Israel on March 2, does not disclose its fighter casualties, but has organised several funerals during the current lull in fighting that followed the June 17 signing of a US-Iran memorandum of understanding. In the heavily damaged village, 39 fighters, four civilians said to have been killed in Israeli operations, and one man who died of natural causes were laid to rest.
An AFP correspondent saw trucks carrying coffins to the burial site as weeping women held portraits of the dead and of Iran's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in US-Israeli strikes on Tehran in February. Many Lebanese have been unable to bury their loved ones in their hometowns while fighting raged; Shia Muslim rites provide for temporary burial when circumstances prevent a proper funeral.
An announcement to Hezbollah supporters read: "You are invited to participate in the blessed funeral of Majdal Selm's martyrs." A previous announcement with 129 names was dismissed by the Majdal Selm municipality as "inaccurate and baseless."
The funeral took place as Lebanese President Joseph Aoun headed to Washington for talks with US President Donald Trump following the latest round of Israel-Lebanon talks. US-sponsored negotiations began in April aimed at reaching a peace deal and permanently ending the Israel-Hezbollah war. On June 26, a framework agreement was reached in Washington for Israeli military withdrawal from southern Lebanon and Lebanese army deployment starting with two "pilot zones." The agreement is contingent on Hezbollah's disarmament—a condition the group has flatly rejected.
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