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Hezbollah gears for funeral as Iran condemns Israel strike

CORRECTS JIHAD'S FATHER'S NAME TO IMAD - In this picture taken on Feb., 22, 2008, Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of slain top Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, speaks during a rally to commemorate his father and two other leaders Abbas Musawi and Ragheb Harb, in the Shiite suburb of Beirut, Lebanon. A Hezbollah official said Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015, that an Israeli strike in the Syrian Golan Heights killed Jihad Mughniyeh and four other fighters from the Lebanese Shiite militant group. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) CORRECTS JIHAD'S FATHER'S NAME TO IMAD - In this picture taken on Feb., 22, 2008, Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of slain top Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, speaks during a rally to commemorate his father and two other leaders Abbas Musawi and Ragheb Harb, in the Shiite suburb of Beirut, Lebanon. A Hezbollah official said Sunday, Jan. 18, 2015, that an Israeli strike in the Syrian Golan Heights killed Jihad Mughniyeh and four other fighters from the Lebanese Shiite militant group. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

By Associated Press January 19, 2015 1 min read

BEIRUT (AP) – The Lebanese Hezbollah group is gearing up for the funeral of a senior fighter killed in Syria as ally Iran condemned the Israeli airstrike that killed him and five other fighters.

The burial ceremony for Jihad Mughniyeh – the son of Imad Mughniyeh, a top Hezbollah operative assassinated in 2008 in Damascus – was to take place on Monday afternoon in southern Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold.

He is the most prominent Hezbollah figure killed in Syria since the Shiite militant group joined the conflict in 2012, fighting alongside President Bashar Assad’s forces against the Sunni-led rebellion.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says he “vigorously condemns” the Israeli strike that killed the younger Mughniyeh on Sunday. Zarif says the strike was no surprise, describing it as “state terrorism” by Israel.