The Hezbollah leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, threatened Israel with an “open war” yesterday and vowed that the assassination of a top commander would mark the beginning of the downfall of the Jewish state.

Nasrallah delivered his threat in the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut during the funeral of Imad Mughnieh, a veteran commander who was killed on Tuesday in a car bomb blast in Damascus.

The funeral, which drew tens of thousands of mourners, came shortly after a rival commemoration was held in central Beirut to mark the third anniversary of the assassination of Rafik Hariri, a former Lebanese prime minister who died in a truck bomb assassination.

“You have killed Hajj Imad outside the natural battlefield,” Nasrallah said, referring to the borders of Lebanon. “With this murder, its timing, location and method – Zionists, if you want this kind of open war, let the whole world listen: Let this war be open.” Nasrallah recalled that past Israeli assassinations of Hezbollah leaders, including his predecessor Sheikh Abbas Mussawi, had only made the party stronger.

“Hajj Imad’s blood will mark the beginning of the downfall of the state of Israel,” he said. “He has left behind tens of thousands of well-trained and equipped combatants who are ready for martyrdom.” The crowd roared with approval as thousands of hands punched the air amid chants of “Yes to Nasrallah”.

The funeral displayed Hezbollah’s sense of pomp and ceremony with banners, flags, a brass band, politicians in dark suits and open neck shirts and clerics in brown or black robes with white or black turbans, all smoothly brought together by the party’s impressive organisational skills. Black suited officials clutching walkie-talkies marshalled the thousands of mourners through a row of metal detectors at the entrance of the auditorium.

Sitting in a line below a stage at the front of the hall and facing the crowd were some of Hezbollah’s top leaders there to receive the steady flow of delegations and individuals coming to pay condolences.

Mughnieh’s refrigerated coffin lay in state on the stage, draped in a yellow Hezbollah flag, four black-uniformed and bereted fighters standing to attention alongside it. Mughnieh’s chubby bearded face gazed out at the throng from several large portraits mounted around the stage.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki took to the podium to read out, in Farsi, a letter of condolence from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, evidence if it were needed of Mughnieh’s stature within Hezbollah.

Mughnieh’s assassination was a “shame” for Israel, Mottaki said, reading the letter.

“Their smile will not last long and they will fall to the hand of justice,” he said.

The ceremony over, Mughnieh’s petal-strewn coffin was carried along the wet streets of southern Beirut followed by a huge crowd chanting “death to America,” and “death to Israel”.

Mughnieh was buried in a cemetery devoted to Hezbollah fighters killed in battle.

“Mughnieh’s death has only made us stronger,” said Mohammed Hashem, 23, a Hezbollah mourner. “You can be sure that there will be retaliation for his death, and it will be very powerful.” The funeral came shortly after tens of thousands of Lebanese ignored sheets of icy rain to gather in central Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square to commemorate the 2005 assassination of Mr Hariri.

Leaders of the anti-Syrian March 14 coalition, which includes Mr Hariri’s Future Movement, hoped that the rally would rekindle the spirit of the so-called Cedar Revolution, the series of mass protests three years ago that led to Syria withdrawing its troops from Lebanon. Since then, Syria, through its Lebanese allies, chief among them Hezbollah, has fought back, regaining some of the influence it had lost. Syria is prime suspect in Mr Hariri’s death and a subsequent series of assassinations of Lebanese MPs, journalists and security officials which has left Lebanon mired in deep political crisis and revived fears of civil war.

Martyrs’ Square was filled with a sea of rain-sodden flags, some Lebanese, but many belonging to the various political parties that compose the March 14 coalition.

After unveiling a monument to his murdered father, Saad Hariri, a top March 14 leader, addressed the crowd from behind a bullet-proof screen, and called for dialogue and cooperation between all factions.

“This is the goal of the citizens gathered here in Martyrs’ Square as well as the southern suburbs for the funeral service of resistance commander ,” he said.

Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, an outspoken March 14 leader, said that the people behind the spate of assassinations would be brought to justice, “be they in their palaces, squares or caves”. Other March 14 officials denounced Hezbollah and accused Syria of meddling in Lebanese affairs.

However, some Lebanese were put off participating because of the weather, the threat of violence and, for some, disillusion with their leaders.

Abdullah Chehab, 42, a pharmacist, said he attended the Beirut Spring rallies three years ago, believing it would change Lebanon for the better.

“But now I think the politicians have shown themselves to be the same. They don’t care about the country,” he said.

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