To attend Nasrallah’s funeral, Iraq increases flights to Lebanon

Shafaq News/ Iraq has increased the number of flights to Lebanon as demand surges ahead of the public funeral of Hezbollah’s late Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.

A source familiar with the matter told Shafaq News that the additional flights aim to accommodate hundreds of Iraqis planning to travel to Lebanon in the coming days for the funeral, set to take place on February 23.

"All tickets for Lebanese airlines [Midlle East Airlines] from Baghdad to Beirut have been sold out in recent days, prompting Iraq to increase Iraqi Airways flights as the funeral date approaches," the source added.

On Tuesday, Iraqi Minister of Transport Razzaq Muhaibis Al-Saadawi instructed Iraqi Airways to operate two additional daily flights to Beirut starting February 21, according to an official statement.

Hassan Nasrallah was killed on September 27, 2024, in an Israeli airstrike in southern suburbs of Beirut. Following his death, Hezbollah secretly temporarily buried him—referred to in Shiite religious tradition as a "wadi’a" (a burial method allows relocating the deceased later under specific conditions.)—due to security concerns that prevented public gatherings for his funeral at the time.

Hezbollah’s current Secretary-General, Naim Qassem, recently announced the official funeral date, set for five days after the ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel is scheduled to take effect, following its extension from January 27.