Lebanese Army Arrests Two Suspects After Shots Fired During Hezbollah Funeral In Beirut Suburbs

The Lebanese army arrested two people in Beirut's southern suburbs suspected of firing shots during a Hezbollah funeral, in a rare raid on the area, according to The National. The army had already made one arrest at the weekend over shootings in Kafaat, as Lebanon's government sought to show it could handle security in its capital. Footage from the funeral showed masked gunmen shooting in the air, including one firing a rocket-propelled grenade in Dahieh, a neighborhood described as a Hezbollah support base. The National also said the Lebanese Armed Forces rarely enter Dahieh, where many of Hezbollah's top figures, including former secretary general Hassan Nasrallah, were killed there.

“How has the ongoing Israeli intervention in southern Lebanon strengthened Hezbollah's power and influence over time”

France 24

Separately, the Lebanese army said a soldier was killed in an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon, while Israeli aircraft carried out new airstrikes on the southern outskirts of Beirut, according to الشرق الأوسط. A medical source for AFP confirmed that one strike occurred about 100 meters from Rafik Hariri University Hospital in the Jnah area, and the source did not report any injuries. Earlier, AFP cited a Civil Defense source saying seven people were killed, including six members of a single family, in an Israeli air raid on southern Lebanon targeting Kafr Hatta, about forty kilometers from the border with Israel. The Civil Defense source said the family was waiting for a relative to take them to another place because they did not own a car, but he was killed upon arrival.

As fighting continued, the Lebanese army and Israeli forces faced repeated cycles of escalation and displacement, with The National describing a buffer zone up to a so-called yellow line as far as 10km inside Lebanese territory. The National reported that Israel ordered residents to leave dozens of towns and villages north of the established yellow line, and that the UN refugee agency warned the humanitarian crisis was "far from over." It also said at least 380 people have been killed since the ceasefire began, the UNHCR said, and quoted UNHCR representative in Lebanon Karolina Lindholm Billing saying, "Families flee, return briefly, then flee again – caught in repeated and exhausting cycles of uncertainty." In parallel, Al Jazeera reported that the Israeli army disclosed a new tally of its own losses since the start of the war in Lebanon, noting 411 soldiers wounded, including 27 serious cases and 60 moderate cases.

“FOCUS Facing Hezbollah, Lebanese Army flexes its muscles a notch higher By arresting several individuals in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the army is making a “cautious” entry into the militia’s main stronghold”

Today