JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
In Lebanon, Hezbollah buried its second-in-command today. He was killed in an Israeli drone strike in Beirut over the weekend. That attack has escalated tension which was already heightened over repeated Israeli attacks, despite a year-old ceasefire brokered by the United States. Correspondent Jane Arraf was at the ceremony.
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JANE ARRAF, BYLINE: Hezbollah described its chief of staff, Haitham Ali al-Tabtabai, as a founder of the resistance, instrumental in ending Israel's occupation of Lebanon in 2000 and a frontline commander for over 35 years. To Israel, he was one of their most wanted targets, and to the U.S., important enough to offer up to a $5 million reward for information about him. He and four fighters from the Iran-backed militant group were killed in an Israeli drone strike on an apartment building in a residential neighborhood of Beirut's southern suburbs on Sunday.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
ARRAF: At the memorial, Israeli drones buzz overhead as fighters carry in the coffins.
ALI DAMOUSH: (Non-English language spoken).
ARRAF: Hezbollah official Sheikh Ali Damoush says the killings will strengthen determination to confront Israel. He criticizes the Lebanese state for not protecting its citizens.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Singing in non-English language).
ARRAF: Hezbollah has not attacked Israel for more than a year, but the ceasefire is in tatters. Israel has struck the south of Lebanon almost daily since then, killing what Lebanon says are more than 300 people. Israel says those strikes are aimed at stopping Hezbollah from rebuilding its weapons capability.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Singing in non-English language).
ARRAF: The funeral procession begins moving - to a new cemetery built because there's no room left in the old one full of Hezbollah fighters.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: (Chanting in non-English language).
ARRAF: Some of the mourners we speak with are both grief-stricken and enraged.
MYRNA: (Speaking Arabic).
ARRAF: "There's a ceasefire on only one side. For a year, there has not been a single shot fired," says Myrna. She's afraid of being targeted and doesn't want her last name used. She says Hezbollah needs to keep its weapons because the Lebanese state is not protecting people.
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ARRAF: On the street where the drone struck, workers are doing basic repairs.
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ARRAF: You can see that a couple of floors of the building have been pretty much demolished, and that's where the Hezbollah members were believed to have been killed. But there were many more wounded, including women and children.
LAYLA TARHINI: (Non-English language spoken).
ARRAF: At a bookshop and cafe, Layla Tarhini is cleaning up books damaged when broken snow globes spilled water on them. There were all kinds of books, as well as glass shelves holding Japanese anime and Harry Potter figures.
TARHINI: I'm a hundred percent sure that disarming Hezbollah is not the solution because it didn't start with Hezbollah. Hezbollah was, like, a reflex or a reaction for an enemy.
ARRAF: Tarhini says not everyone is Hezbollah, but everyone is trying to resist in their own way. In her case, reopening the bookshop.
For NPR News, I'm Jane Arraf in Beirut's southern suburbs.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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