Thousands gather to celebrate Hezbollah's "Divine Victory"

Aug 14, 2007, 17:27 GMT

Beirut - Tens of thousands of Hezbollah followers were gathering in Beirut's southern suburbs Tuesday evening to celebrate the so-called 'divine victory' of the Shiite militant movement in its 33-day war with Israel last summer.

Men, women, children and the elderly flocked to a football stadium near the Roueiss neighbourhood to hear Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah who was due to address the crowd.

The crowd were carrying pictures of Nasarllah and placards that read 'August 14 - the day of victory over the Zionist regime.'

'I hope Seyyed Nasrallah will appear in person and not address us through the screens,' said a woman clad in a black chador while waving the leader's picture.

'For us he is the hero and with his wisdom and military tactics he made this victory,' a man carrying Hezbollah's yellow flag said.

'He is the leader of the resistance and we are his strugglers all of us, women, elderly and children,' Mustafa Jafaar, a Hezbollah follower said.

Despite its military weight, Israel failed to crush Hezbollah during the conflict which began July 12, 2006, after Hezbollah guerrillas based in southern Lebanon snatched two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border attack.

The war was halted on August 14 by UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which allowed the deployment of Lebanese soldiers and a beefed- up UN peacekeeping force to monitor the border between Lebanon and Israel.

More than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, died in the war as well as 116 Israeli soldiers and 43 civilians.

Much of Lebanon's infrastructure was damaged during the fighting. Bridges, roads and thousands of homes were destroyed.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has faced repeated calls to resign over his handling of the crisis.