The funeral of Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader who was assassinated last year, was staged as a show of political strength at a crucial time. Nasrallah was an almost mythical figure who ruled the group for 32 years before his death.

Tens of thousands of people gathered on the outskirts of Beirut on Sunday to pay their respects to Hezbollah's slain leader Hassan Nasrallah, nearly five months after he was killed in an Israeli airstrike in a stunning blow to the Iran-backed group.