(9 Jan 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Khirbet Selm, south Lebanon - 9 January 2024
1. Ambulance carrying the coffin of commander Wissam al-Tawil who was killed in a drone strike
2. Various of funeral procession with coffin draped in Hezbollah's flag being carried through crowds of chanting mourners
3. Various of Hezbollah members in uniform carrying coffin
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Samira al-Tawil, sister-in-law:
"I am the mother of two martyrs, and the martyrdom of hajj Jawad (using al-Tawil's military name) increased our strength, will and pride. The enemy should never one day think that we will be afraid, not of its massacres, not of (losing people as) martyrs, not of anything."
5. Funeral procession
6. Various of the attacked car that carried al-Tawil when he was killed, covered at roadside
STORYLINE:
Thousands of people took part Tuesday in the southern village of Khirbet Selm in the funeral of Hezbollah commander Wissam al-Tawil who was killed in a drone strike a day earlier.
Al-Tawil's coffin, draped in Hezbollah's yellow flag, was carried through the streets of the village all the way to the cemetery where he was laid to rest.
Al-Tawil, a 48-year-old commander in Hezbollah’s secretive Radwan Force deployed along the border with Israel, was killed when the strike hit his SUV in his hometown of Khirbet Silem.
The strike was about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border, beyond the villages and towns that have witnessed the two sides exchange fire over the past three months.
He is the most senior Hezbollah militant killed since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel triggered all-out war in Gaza and lower-intensity fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, which has escalated since an Israeli strike killed a senior Hamas leader last week in Beirut.
"The enemy should never one day think that we will be afraid," said Al-Tawil's sister-in-law Samira said on Tuesday.
Israeli officials have been demanding for weeks that the Hezbollah withdraws its fighters from the border area to allow tens of thousands of Israelis displaced by the fighting to return to their homes.
During a visit to Israel last month, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said a "negotiated outcome" would be the best way to reassure residents of northern Israel.
AP video by Mohammad Zinati
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