‘We hated him for Syria, but loved him for Palestine': Palestinians in Gaza mourn Nasrallah

"We hated him for Syria, but we loved him for Palestine," these were words of one Palestinian in Gaza speaking to The New Arab in reaction to Israel's assassination of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli airstrike last Friday with involved dropping 85 massive bombs that flattened an apartment block and killed a massive amount of civilians. 

Many in Gaza express sadness over his killing, mainly because Nasrallah is the only Arab leader who actively over the course of the eleven months was against Israel's genocidal war on the besieged coastal enclave. 

"Although we hated Nasrallah's position towards our brothers in Syria who tried to raise their voices against their unjust President Bashar al-Assad, we cannot forget that he supported our Palestinian cause while most Arab and Islamic countries have abandoned us," said one Palestinian, who asked not to be named. 

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and Nasrallah was the most prominent enemy of Israel, and he was considered a real threat to Israel's existence, so he was considered a friend of the Palestinian people, especially the Gaza Strip," another person added. 

On Saturday, Lebanon's Hezbollah officially confirmed that its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated in a massive Israeli strike on the southern suburb of Beirut the day before.

Born in 1960, Nasrallah joined Hezbollah in 1982, the year it was formed with the help of Iran's Revolutionary Guards to fight against Israeli forces invading Lebanon.

Known as a dedicated student of Shia Islam, he quickly rose through the ranks. He became the third secretary-general of the group in 1992 after Israel assassinated his predecessor Abbas Musawi.

He didn't abandon Gaza

"The news of the assassination was a thunderbolt because we lost a great resistance leader who we were proud of because he defended the Palestinian people. We feel sad about this loss," Abdul Salam Radi from Gaza City remarked to TNA. 

"No one knows the meaning of losing leaders who dare to challenge Israel and the United States like Gazans who have suffered from the scourge of Israeli wars and crimes for decades," he added. "Hassan Nasrallah paid with his life for his support of the Palestinian cause, especially since he rejected all offers to abandon Gaza and protect himself and his country from death and destruction."

According to Nihaya Abu Sharkh, a displaced Palestinian from Gaza City, what contributed to the assassination of Nasrallah and the leaders of the Lebanese and Palestinian resistance was "the shameful Arab silence and perhaps the support of some Arab rulers for ending all forms of armed resistance."

"This is the worst news I have heard since the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh [...] Nasrallah was the only leader who supported us in the Gaza Strip and gave us hope that we were important to the Arabs [...] Today, we lost a real man and a great leader," Abu Sharkh said to TNA.

"I was totally against him when he violently dealt with the opponents of Assad and caused the killing of thousands and the displacement of millions of Syrian civilians, but I cannot forget that he helped us a lot and was the only hope for the people of Gaza," she added. 

Ismail Abu Al-Hanoud, a Palestinian from the city of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, argued a different interpretation of the events. He believes that both Nasrallah and Haniyeh and all the leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas were victims of an "Iranian betrayal," especially since they were considered Iran's pawns in the Middle East.

"We are facing a world war between Iran, China and Russia against the US and its allies [...] Iran is not interested in sacrificing its nuclear program, but it is always creating conflicts in the Middle East to pressure America to lift the embargo and allow it to develop its nuclear program," Abu Al-Hanoud argued. 

"We [civilians] are paying the price for these wars that have nothing to do with us," he added. 

Palestinian factions mourn Nasrallah

For their parts, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine mourned the former Hezbollah chief. 

In a statement, Hamas said, "We mourn to our Palestinian people, our Arab and Islamic nation and the free people of the world the martyrdom of Hassan Nasrallah, who was martyred with a group of his fellow leaders, in the 'Battle of the Flood of Al-Aqsa' and on the road to Jerusalem, and supporting our Palestinian people and their valiant resistance in confronting the Zionist enemy."

Hamas held Israel fully responsible for what it described as a "heinous crime" and its serious repercussions on the security and stability of the region.

"The US administration also bears responsibility for its continued support for this occupation politically, diplomatically, militarily, security-wise and intelligence-wise," Hamas' statement noted. 

Hamas stressed its support for "Hezbollah and the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, who are participating in the 'Battle of the Flood of Al-Aqsa' in defence of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the legitimate rights of our people and their aspirations for freedom, independence and self-determination."

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement said that the killing of Nasrallah "will increase the strength, steadfastness and determination of the resistance in Lebanon, Palestine and the region."

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine asserted in separate statements that "the Palestinian people and the Palestinian resistance will remain supportive of the Lebanese people and the Lebanese resistance and will continue to fight Israel and the US in the Middle East."

"Hezbollah and the Lebanese and Palestinian resistance lost a leading figure like Nasrallah, but that does not mean that Israel destroyed Hezbollah because it is a strong, institutional and ideological party, and it is difficult, even impossible, for it to surrender. It can retreat a little or a lot, and it can weaken, but it will not abandon its goals or its agenda, no matter the price, and it will rise from its slump sooner or later," Hani al-Masri, a Ramallah-based Palestinian political analyst, opined to TNA.