Crowds of people gathered last week in the ruined town square of Aitaroun, south Lebanon, to attend the mass burial of 95 people, one of the largest funerals held in Lebanon since the start of the Hezbollah-Israel war.

Hundreds of people waving Hezbollah flags watched as rows of coffins were brought in by four lorries, the vehicles’ procession lined with flattened buildings destroyed in Israeli bombardment months earlier.


_A mass funeral of 95 Hezbollah fighters and civilians killed in Israeli airstrikes was held in Aitaroun, southern Lebanon._

Ahmad Grube, a 67-year-old farmer and resident of Aitaroun, has been sleeping in a tent after his home was heavily damaged in an Israeli strike. The village has no running water or electricity as a result of damage to public infrastructure.

Like others the Guardian spoke to in the border villages last week, Grube had yet to receive compensation from Hezbollah for damage caused by fighting.

Hezbollah promised early in the war to compensate anyone who suffered damage. Now, with wide swathes of the country primarily populated by members of its base destroyed, Hezbollah has struggled to find the funds to fulfil its promise and has asked its supporters for patience.

“We’re not optimistic at all. The future of our kids, it’s all gone. And we don’t expect to receive the value of the house back,” Grube said.


_Mourners beside a truck_

Thirteen months of fighting with Israel has left the Iran-backed Shia Islamist group, once renowned as the world’s strongest non-state militia, reeling. The group’s near-total dominance of the Lebanese state for the past two decades has been weakened by the losses it has suffered in the past year of war.

The war started when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel “in solidarity” with Hamas on 8 October 2023. Fighting was concentrated near the Lebanese-Israeli border, until Israel dramatically expanded its aerial campaign and invaded south  in late September, leaving more than 3,900 dead across the country and destroying dozens of Lebanese border villages such as Aitaroun.

Most of Hezbollah’s senior leadership was killed in the fighting, along with thousands of its fighters, and many of its weapon caches were destroyed.

But the damage inflicted on the group has also been felt heavily by the communities in southern Lebanon that make up its support base.

In Aitaroun, one of Lebanon’s hardest-hit villages, residents were left wondering if their sacrifices were worth it.

Maggie Seyedhassan, a 23-year-old student attending Friday’s funeral, was carrying a picture of her neighbour Abbas. He was killed along with 22 other Aitaroun residents in an Israeli strike on Aitou, a Christian town in north Lebanon where they had taken shelter.

“Abbas didn’t want to be a martyr. He had so many things he wanted to do with his life. The price of this war was huge. Why did we have to fight it?” Seyedhassan said.

A large crowd of people watched as the coffins were brought in by the lorries, with hundreds of people waving Hezbollah flags.


_Four lorries carry the coffins of the dead through Aitaroun._

Ahmad Grube, a 67-year-old farmer and resident of Aitaroun, has been sleeping in a tent after his home was heavily damaged in an Israeli strike. The village has no running water or electricity as a result of damage to public infrastructure.

Like others the Guardian spoke to in the border villages last week, Grube had yet to receive compensation from Hezbollah for damage caused by fighting.

Hezbollah promised early in the war to compensate anyone who suffered damage. Now, with wide swathes of the country primarily populated by members of its base destroyed, Hezbollah has struggled to find the funds to fulfil its promise and has asked its supporters for patience.

“We’re not optimistic at all. The future of our kids, it’s all gone. And we don’t expect to receive the value of the house back,” Grube said.


_A mourners beside a truck_

Thirteen months of fighting with Israel has left the Iran-backed Shia Islamist group, once renowned as the world’s strongest non-state militia, reeling. The group’s near-total dominance of the Lebanese state for the past two decades has been weakened by the losses it has suffered in the past year of war.
```