Intense Efforts Exerted to Contain Fallout from Mount Lebanon Unrest

Lebanese President Michel Aoun receives at the Baabda presidential palace State Minister for Refugee Affairs Saleh al-Gharib and Lebanese Democratic Party chief MP Talal Arslan. (NNA)
Lebanese President Michel Aoun receives at the Baabda presidential palace State Minister for Refugee Affairs Saleh al-Gharib and Lebanese Democratic Party chief MP Talal Arslan. (NNA)
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Intense Efforts Exerted to Contain Fallout from Mount Lebanon Unrest

Lebanese President Michel Aoun receives at the Baabda presidential palace State Minister for Refugee Affairs Saleh al-Gharib and Lebanese Democratic Party chief MP Talal Arslan. (NNA)
Lebanese President Michel Aoun receives at the Baabda presidential palace State Minister for Refugee Affairs Saleh al-Gharib and Lebanese Democratic Party chief MP Talal Arslan. (NNA)

Lebanese leaders scrambled on Monday to contain the repercussions of the shootout in the town of Kfar Matta, where two bodyguards of State Minister for Refugee Affairs Saleh al-Gharib were killed when his convoy came under fire on Sunday.

Asharq Al-Awsat learned that the army carried out several raids in search of suspects and that one person was arrested pending investigations into the case.

Meanwhile, the country’s Supreme Defense Council, which includes the president and security chiefs, held an urgent meeting and took “decisive” measures to restore security to the area and bring to justice those involved.

Leader of the Progressive Socialist Party former MP Walid Jumblatt said on Monday the weekend’s unrest “was not born of the moment, but rather the result of accumulations that started in Choueifat.”

In May 2018, clashes erupted between supporters of the PSP and the Lebanese Democratic Forces, led by MP Talal Arslan, in the Choueifat region in Aley, killing one PSP member.

The PSP has accused Arslan of protecting the suspect and of smuggling him across the border into Syria.

Gharib is a political ally of Arslan, who is close to Hezbollah and the Syrian regime.

Meanwhile, Sunday’s unrest may help in easing the strain in relations between Hariri’s Mustaqbal Movement and the PSP following the recent eruption of a political dispute between them.

“What is important for the movement is that understanding and dialogue prevail among all political forces, particularly between us and the PSP,” Mustaqbal politburo member and former MP Mustafa Alloush told Asharq Al-Awsat on Monday.

PSP senior media officer Rami Rayess said that even in the worst situations, the party had never disassociated itself from the historic relations it enjoys with the Mustaqbal.

“Contacts with the Mustaqbal are moving forward and we continue to exert efforts to restore the relationship with the movement and with its leader, Hariri, who is exerting immense efforts to contain the repercussions of the recent unrest,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Meanwhile, a senior member of the March 14 alliance told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Syrian regime and its allies were seeking to “single out Jumblatt and drag the Mount Lebanon region towards major strife.”

He warned that Sunday’s unrest was more than just a random clash, but reveals that Lebanon and its unique identity in the region were under threat.



Israel Strikes Beirut's Southern Suburbs once Again

Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs after an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon November 16, 2024. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani
Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs after an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon November 16, 2024. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani
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Israel Strikes Beirut's Southern Suburbs once Again

Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs after an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon November 16, 2024. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani
Smoke billows over Beirut's southern suburbs after an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon November 16, 2024. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut’s Haret Hreik area in the southern suburbs again on Friday after evacuation warnings were issued to residents prior to the attacks by an Israeli spokesman.
The Israeli army issued evacuation orders to residents in the areas of al-Hadath and Haret Hreik, as well as several villages in Lebanon’s south requesting they move to north of Awwali River.
When it issues such a warning, Israel cites alleged presence of Hezbollah fighters or infrastructure in civilian areas as a justification for its airstrikes.
Avichay Adraee, spokesperson for the Israeli army, issued an evacuation warning to the residents of the towns of Tayba, Aadchit, Qusayr, and Deir Seryan, as well as to the residents of the towns of Burj al-Shamali and Maashuq in southern Lebanon.
He also requested the evacuation of residents from specific buildings in Hadath and Haret Hreik in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Israeli attacks have killed at least 3,583 people and wounded 15,244 in Lebanon since October 2023, with 25 fatalities reported on Wednesday, the Lebanese health ministry said on Thursday.