Mosul
\nSince the beginning of Israel\u2019s attack on Lebanon, and especially the Friday killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, the mood in Iraq has been one of anger and mourning.
\n30-year-old Imad Qusay Abbas, from the Nineveh Plain to the north-east of Mosul in northern Iraq, said he received the news of Nasrallah\u2019s killing on his return from a solidarity vigil for the victims of Israeli aggression across the region organised by the Iran-backed Iraqi armed group, Kata\u2019ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS).
\n\u201cWe never imagined that we would return from the solidarity vigil and hear the news of the martyrdom of Nasrallah,\u201d he told Al Jazeera. \u201cHe was martyred as we were carrying his pictures and chanting for Lebanon and Palestine. It was a real shock.\u201d
\nAfter Hezbollah confirmed the killing of Nasrallah, hundreds of Iraqis once again took to the streets across many provinces, from Basra and Karbala to Baghdad and Mosul, to mourn him and stand in solidarity with millions of others suffering from Israeli attacks in Lebanon, Gaza and across the region.
\nComplete breakdown of the international order
\nIn the capital, Baghdad, on Saturday protesters tried enter the Green Zone [a district in central Baghdad, which is the seat of the Iraqi government] and set the US embassy there on fire as they chanted slogans declaring the assassination of Nasrallah in Beirut represents a complete breakdown of the international order.
\nAlmost everyone across Iraq\u2019s crowded political and security spectrum also issued statements condemning Israel\u2019s killing of Nasrallah and ongoing attacks on Lebanon.
\nIraq\u2019s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani condemned the attack as \u201cshameful\u201d and \u201ca crime that shows the Zionist entity has crossed all the red lines\u201d.
\nIn a statement, Sudani called Nasrallah \u201ca martyr on the path of the righteous\u201d, and declared a three-day mourning period.
\nSudani\u2019s statement came shortly after influential Iraqi Shia Muslim leader Muqtada al-Sadr wrote on X: \u201cFarewell to the companion of the path of resistance and defiance.\u201d
\nLater, KSS Secretary-General Abu Alaa Al-Walae said, also in a post on X, that \u201cIraq, with its government, people and resistance, did not and will not allow the imposition of a siege on proud Lebanon\u201d.
\nThe highest Shia authority in the country, Sayyid Ali al-Sistani, meanwhile, urged citizens \u201cto do what contributes to alleviating their suffering and securing the humanitarian needs [of the Lebanese people]\u201c, after which donation collection operations were launched in various cities.
\nNasrallah \u2018in the consciousness of the nation\u2019
\nIn the village of Khazna, east of Mosul, Shias held a mourning council for the soul of the late Hezbollah leader. Mourners, who also revealed a fabric portrait of Nasrallah covering the entire facade of a four story building, said while Hezbollah leader\u2019s body may have been gone, his thoughts and beliefs continue to guide his followers.
\n\u201cNasrallah entered history through its widest doors,\u201d Sheikh Hassan Al-Shabaki, supervisor of the Sayyed Al-Shuhada Cultural Complex in the village, told Al Jazeera. \u201cThey thought they had gotten rid of him, but they have established his permanent presence in the consciousness of the nation.\u201d
\n\u201cOf course, it was a shock to hear the news of the martyrdom of the Sayyed, but we always say that the banner is handed down from one leader to another,\u201d said 31-year-old Duraid Fadhel, also attending the ceremony. \u201cHezbollah will not be broken and will become stronger.\u201d
\nAt vigils and protests honouring Nasrallah, alongside anger towards Israel and determination to \u201ccontinue the resistance\u201d some concerns over the conflict\u2019s expansion into Iraq were also voiced.
\n\u201cThe Zionist entity is exterminating the Palestinians and now it is exterminating the Lebanese, and Iraq\u2019s turn is coming,\u201d Imad told me. \u201cWe sense the coming danger.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mosul Since the beginning of Israel\u2019s attack on Lebanon, and especially the Friday killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut, the mood in Iraq has been one of anger and mourning. 30-year-old Imad Qusay Abbas, from the Nineveh Plain to the north-east of Mosul in northern Iraq, said he received the news of Nasrallah\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":435201,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-435165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n