Sectarian tensions rise in Lebanon death after funeral of Hizbullah fighter

Lebanon’s overlapping political, economic, and social crises have stirred sectarian tensions, leading to a spike in violence.

Interim defence minister Maurice Slim escaped unharmed after his car window was shattered on Thursday as he was driving through a Beirut suburb where several buildings were hit by stray bullets fired during the funeral of Hizbullah fighter Ahmad Qassas.

Qassas was killed on Wednesday when Maronite Christians from the town of Kahaleh attempted to seize a lorry packed with ammunition belonging to Hizbullah which had overturned on the main Beirut-Damascus highway

Kahaleh resident Fadi Bejjani was also killed in the gunfire that ensued. His funeral, accompanied by church bells and gunfire, took place on Friday .

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After the incident and the shooting at Mr Slim’s car, Lebanese troops deployed to Kahaleh, reopened the highway and confiscated the lorry and its contents.

The incident prompted hardline Maronite Phalange party leader Sami Gemayel to warn that Lebanon can no longer accept Hizbullah’s arms.

“What would have happened if this truck was carrying explosives? We cannot continue like this, we’ve reached the point of no return.”

The clash was the most serious communal confrontation since seven people were killed and 32 injured in 2021 fighting between Shia Hizbullah and Maronite Christian militiamen from the Lebanon Forces (LF) party in Beirut.

The clashes broke out during protests by Hizbullah and the Shia Amal Movement after two Amal ministers were charged over the catastrophic 2020 explosion at Beirut port which killed 235, wounded 6,000 and rendered 300,000 homeless.

The latest shootings followed the death of former LF co-ordinator Elias al-Hasrouni in a Maronite village in largely Shia south Lebanon. While his death was declared accidental, the LF and Phalange claimed he was murdered.

LF chief Samir Geagea said surveillance cameras at homes near Mr Hasrouni’s residence showed he was ambushed, abducted, and killed.

However Mr Hasrouni’s brother told al-Jadeed television: “I don’t believe that what happened has a political cause, and there are those who want to fish in troubled waters.”

Meanwhile, Lebanese caretaker culture minister Mohammed Mortada has banned the Barbie film from cinemas, claiming it “promoted homosexuality”.

He has the support of the Shia Amal movement and Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah who has claimed the LGBT community undermines “the values of faith and morality”.

Lebanon had served as a refuge for gay men and women in a region where discrimination is rife but Reuters quoted human rights activist Ayman Mhanna as saying the ban is “part of a campaign” by Hizbullah and far right Christians and other religious leaders to target LGBT people.

Since 2019 sectarian tensions have waxed and waned due to political deadlock, economic meltdown, and the descent into poverty of 80 per cent of Lebanon’s residents.