Gunfire heard across Beirut to mourn Nasrallah

 Gunfire erupted in Beirut after Hezbollah announced the death of its leader Hassan Nasrallah — a gesture to mark martyrdom, believed by Muslims to be one of the highest honors in Islam.

Many Hezbollah supporters were initially skeptical after Israel announced Nasrallah’s death earlier.

Moments before Hezbollah announced Nasrallah’s death, a woman and a man told CNN they expected the group’s leader to “surprise us all with an appearance.”

“He’s not in Lebanon. I know in my heart he isn’t,” said one elderly Shia woman in a black chador, smiling.

Less than five minutes later, the announcement of his death came. “He was martyred,” she kept repeating as she pressed her face against a wall, fumbling to keep herself standing.

“This is the biggest crisis of all,” she said.

A man trying to console her said that “martyrdom was what he wanted … and it’s what he received.”

Another woman broke down crying as she recited verses from the Quran with tears streaming down her face.

In the Dahiyeh neighborhood of southern Beirut, where Nasrallah was killed by Israel, loud chants of: “We submit to you, Nasrallah,” and “We will never accept humiliation,” were heard.