Firefight racks Beirut after Hezbollah demonstration attacked

Gunmen opened fire on a Hezbollah-organized demonstration on Thursday in the Lebanese capital killing at least six people and raising the specter of renewed violence and revenge attacks across the city. 

The brazen assault on Lebanon’s most powerful party, both militarily and politically, represented a dangerous escalation in a country that has been teetering on the edge of collapse for the past year.

Hezbollah, which held the demonstration to call for the removal of the judge investigating a blast that tore through Beirut last year, has accused the rival Lebanese Forces, a right-wing Christian movement, for the attack, setting up a showdown between the two heavily armed groups.

Hezbollah and its ally the Amal Movement said its supporters “faced an armed aggression by groups from the Lebanese Forces party which had spread out in nearby neighborhoods and on building rooftops, and started its direct sniping operations to purposefully kill.”

After hours of shooting and rocket propelled grenades, which spread from the Tayyooneh roundabout — a fault line during the civil war decades ago — to several other parts of the city, the normally traffic-choked streets were eerily quiet, save for the distant sound of ambulances.

The Red Cross, which sent teams to the scene, said six people were killed and more than 30 wounded. It was the fiercest clash in the city since 2008, when tensions between the US-backed government and Hezbollah escalated into pitched street battles in which dozens died.

While the Lebanese Forces did not claim the attack, Imad Wakim, a lawmaker for the group, said in a tweet that the confrontation is not between parties or sects but “between Hezbollah and what is left of free Lebanese from all sects, preserving what has remained of government institutions.”

Schools were evacuated as panicked parents flocked to pick up their children. Local media reported that residents on buildings’ higher floors were descending to avoid gunshots targeting the snipers believed to be on the rooftops. Many families were evacuated from buildings in the area by the army and the Lebanese Red Cross. 

The demonstration had been originally to protest Judge Tarek Bitar after Lebanon’s highest court rejected a petition to replace him. He is the second judge to lead the investigation in the face of formidable opposition by various political parties in Lebanon, including Hezbollah.

In its joint statement, Hezbollah and Amal called on authorities to “arrest those who caused the killing operations whose names are known, and the aggressors who ran this purposeful operation from black rooms.”

During a news conference from the airport, US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland expressed condolences for the day’s events, and said of the blast investigation that “terrorists and thieves have robbed (the Lebanese) of hope for far too long.”

She announced a US$67 million aid for the army, which has been struggling to weather the economic crisis that has ravaged Lebanon in the past two years.

Local television channels stressed a need for de-escalation to avoid a repetition of the civil war that destroyed much of the country between 1975 and 1990. Residential streets and the area around the Palace of Justice, where the protest was based, were stained with blood and littered with shell casings and shattered glass.

Calls for vengeance filled the air at al-Sahel hospital, just 10 minutes from the heart of the clashes, and the air was heavy with anger. Tall bearded men in baseball caps and with Kalashnikov assault rifles slung across their bodies cried freely outside the ER, clutching each other’s shoulders. Many yelled about fighting back.

Lebanon’s politics is characterized by a tense power sharing agreement between its many communities that has left decision-making deadlocked while the economy and basic infrastructure has gradually deteriorated.

The system has also meant that any serious investigations, such as the one into the August 4, 2020, blast, which killed more than 200 people and devastated large portions of the capital, tend to go nowhere if they threatens the powers that be.

Bitar is the second judge assigned to the probe. Throughout his investigation, the first judge, Fadi Sawan, had focused on a question that has gripped much of Lebanon: Who was responsible for allowing 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate to be stored haphazardly in a warehouse, alongside fireworks and paint thinners, on the edge of a crowded city?

After trying to interrogate powerful former ministers and political leaders, Sawan was removed and replaced by Bitar. But he also struggled to break through Lebanon’s culture of corruption and political influence that prevented the law from holding anyone of consequence accountable.

Government documents reviewed by The Post earlier this year showed that officials were well aware of the dangers posed by the large chemical stockpile long before last year. The documents revealed that responsibility for the ammonium nitrate was for years passed among different public and private entities, including the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, the judiciary, the army and even a private explosives company.

Bitar faced backlash after he issued an arrest warrant Tuesday for Amal movement member and former finance minister Ali Hassan Khalil. In an interview the same day, Khalil said, “I am proud to be part of a political movement, that I am a soldier in the Amal movement.”

A cabinet meeting was canceled Wednesday after Hezbollah demanded urgent government action against the judge. A Hezbollah-allied minister threatened that he and other cabinet members would stage a walkout if Bitar was not removed. Thursday’s protest was part of the party’s pressure campaign against the judge.

Iranian tanker containing fuel for Lebanon approaching Suez Canal

The Lebanese Hezbollah vowed last week that Iran was sending fuel to Lebanon which is facing economic collapse and serious shortages of fuel for essential services. The first tanker has left now and must sail to the Suez Canal before reaching the Mediterranean.

Hezbollah leader Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah has threatened retaliation if anyone tries to interfere with the shipment and has said the tankers bringing fuel are considered Lebanese territory.

Nasrallah dropped a bombshell when he announced that an oil tanker carrying Iranian fuel oil was bound for Lebanon. Addressing a commemorative ceremony marking the Day of Ashura, Hezbollah’s chief announced that the first of several ships loaded with fuel would sail from Iran to Lebanon within hours, warning the United States and Israel against any sabotage.

“Our first ship has completed all arrangements and will sail within hours from Iran to Lebanon with the blessing of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him),” he said, noting, “This ship will be followed by other ships, but we gave priority to diesel oil on the first ship because it is a top priority and is linked to people’s lives.”

In a stark warning to Washington and Tel Aviv, which oppose any fuel trade between Tehran and Beirut, Nasrallah declared that the ship will be considered as a Lebanese property the moment it leaves Iran and that any aggression against it would be seen as an aggression against Lebanon.

“God willing, this ship and others will arrive safely; we don’t want confrontation with anyone. We are only after helping our people… We reject to be humiliated in any military, political or economic war. We refuse the humiliation of our people, let no one dare to challenge us,” he asserted.

The announcement made the US ambassador to Lebanon to scramble to find a way to prevent Lebanon from importing fuel from Iran. The ambassador, Dorothy Shea, rushed to speak with Lebanese President Michel Aoun hours after Nasrallah’s announcement. 

“President Aoun received a phone call from the US Ambassador to Lebanon, Dorothy Shea, informing him of the US administration’s decision to help Lebanon import electricity from Jordan through Syria through Egyptian gas,” the Lebanese presidency said on Twitter. It also quoted Shea as saying that “transfer of Egyptian gas will be facilitated through Jordan and Syria to northern Lebanon.”

Shea also told Aoun that negotiations are underway with the World Bank to secure financing for the cost of Egyptian gas, the repair and strengthening of electricity transmission lines, and the required maintenance of gas pipelines.

The US ambassador’s conversation marked the return of her anti-Hezbollah media activism. During the Trump administration, Shea had launched a propaganda campaign against Hezbollah in parallel with the Trump White House, tightening the noose on Hezbollah.

If Lebanon is now in an economic tailspin, it’s largely because of the US continued efforts to prevent any economic cooperation with Beirut under the pretext of combating Hezbollah's influence. Arab allies of the US in the region, who once helped Lebanon financially, have refrained from providing any aid to the religiously diverse Arab country. 

Then there was the Iranian helping hand. Iran has always offered to help the Lebanese people. But political factionalism and malign foreign influence in Beirut have stood in the way of Iranian help. 

Nasrallah announced the import of Iranian fuel only after the fuel crisis in Lebanon reached new heights with almost all Western countries and their Arab allies refusing to alleviate the crisis.