Tens of thousands of members and supporters of Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah gathered in the southern suburbs of Beirut to mark the Shia ceremony of Ashura Sunday, chanting anti-Israeli and anti-US slogans.
Ashura, commemorated among Shia communities around the Middle East, came a day after an explosion in the Hezbollah-controlled area of Haret Hriek, killed to members of the Palestinian movement Hamas, allies of Hezbollah allies.
Five other people were wounded in the blast.
Ayman Taha, a spokesman for Hamas in Gaza, identified the dead as Basel Goma and Hassan Haddad. He gave no further details on Goma and Haddad's duties.
Addressing his supporters, Hezbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said "what threatens our nation now is the US imperial project, and we condemn its projects, its wars and its crimes. ..."
"There are no boundaries for Israel terrorism, and let's remind the world today about its crimes in Gaza and in Lebanon, its continuous threats to Jerusalem and the Palestinian population," Nasrallah said as the crowd chanted "Death to Israel." Referring to the Ashura's commemoration of the death of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Muslim prophet Mohammed at the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD, the cleric said: "I tell the Israelis again that we will fight like soldiers of Karbala and Hussein, and we will only have victories," he added.
Ashura, a day of mourning in most of the Shia-populated regions around the Middle East, usually involves processions and demonstrations. The event is held of the 10th day of mourning for Hussein, at the beginning of the Islamic year.