Hezbollah cancels Ashoura rallies in south due to border clashes

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has said that, because of the ongoing fighting with Israel, Hezbollah will not hold rallies in much of southern Lebanon this week commemorating the martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Hussein.

Ashoura is one of the most important dates on the Shiite calendar, but this year's solemn holy day comes as Hezbollah and Israeli troops have been exchanging fire on an almost daily basis since war broke out in Gaza.

Nasrallah said in a televised speech Monday night that no rallies would be held in an area that includes the port city of Tyre, the market town of Nabatiyeh, as well as the towns of Khiam and Bint Jbeil near the border with Israel.

His announcement came as Israel killed several civilians in an airstrike in Bint Jbeil on Monday night, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency, which did not immediately provide further details.

Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon have killed over 450 people, mostly Hezbollah fighters but also more than 80 civilians and non-combatants. On the Israeli side, 21 soldiers and 17 civilians have been killed since the war in Gaza began.

Hezbollah annually holds rallies in different parts of Lebanon but the largest is in Beirut’s southern suburbs, which is usually attended by tens of thousands. Nasrallah gives a speech on the day that falls on the 10th day of the Muslim month of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, which this year coincides with Wednesday.

Millions of Shiite Muslims around the world commemorate Ashoura, marking the 7th-century martyrdom of Hussein that gave birth to their faith.