THOUSANDS of people have attended the funeral of Hezbollah’s top military commander Haytham Tabtabai.

Mr Tabtabai was killed on Sunday in an Israeli air strike on a southern suburb of Beirut.

The following day, Hezbollah supporters walked by his coffin, draped in the group’s yellow flag, as it was carried through the crowd. 

The burial of Mr Tabtabai and two other Hezbollah members took place in a cemetery south of Beirut where the resistance group’s fighters are traditionally laid to rest.

Sunday’s Israeli air strike was the first to hit Lebanon’s capital since June.

The Israeli military described Mr Tabtabai as Hezbollah’s chief of staff.

Israel also warned the group not to rearm and rebuild a year after their latest war ended with a ceasefire agreement.

Sunday’s strike killed five people and wounded 28 others, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said.

“Let them [Israelis] continue their raids on us. They want us to surrender so they can enter our homes? Did you see what happened in Gaza? What did they do? They did nothing,” said a Hezbollah supporter who identified himself as Jaafar.

Fellow Hezbollah supporter Fatima Shehadeh said that “no matter how much blood is shed, we will never surrender and we will never hand over the weapons of the resistance.”

On Monday, France’s Foreign Ministry expressed “deep concern” over the strike and potential for escalation, calling on parties to use the ceasefire monitoring mechanism to report threats and not take “unilateral actions.”

Israeli air strikes on southern Lebanon have intensified in recent weeks, while Israel and the United States have pressed the Beirut government to disarm Hezbollah.

Israel asserts that the group is trying to rebuild its military strength, but the Lebanese government, which supports Hezbollah’s disarmament, disputes that.

It also says that troops have deployed to the south, but that its cash-strapped army needs more resources.