Flags flew at half-mast in Damascus on Sunday and residents said they were still shocked after the killing of Hezbollah's chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, whose fighters helped Syria's army reclaim large parts of the country during its brutal civil war.
Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs on Friday, amid a significant escalation in the hostilities between Hezbollah and the Israeli military playing out in parallel with the Gaza war.
Syria announced three days of national mourning, with President Bashar al-Assad saying on Sunday that Nasrallah would "remain in the memory of Syrians".
In Damascus, residents expressed disbelief over Israel's killing of Nasrallah.
"He can't die. He always dreamed of martyrdom, and while this is fitting, it's still so hard to accept," said Marwa Barkouka. "He remains alive, not just as a martyr but because he lives inside us. We grew up with him here."
Syria's conflict erupted in 2011 with protests against Assad. Nasrallah in 2012 called for reform in the country, but by the next year said that Hezbollah would fight alongside Assad to prevent Syria falling to radicals, the United States and Israel.
Many credit Hezbollah's intervention for key victories, first along Syria's border with Lebanon and later on in other cities.
"For us, this man was like an entire nation. We had dignity, and now it's gone," said Ibrahim Al-Ahmad, another resident of Damascus.
Syrians drive past the Syrian flag at half-mast in the capital Damascus on Sunday, after Syria officially declared a three-day national mourning period following Israel's killing of Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. AFP
