Realizing the situation could escalate even further, the Hezbollah personnel fled the scene, leaving the LAF in charge. Yet rather than staying back as they normally would in situations involving Hezbollah, residents insisted on investigating, which led to a gun battle that caused two fatalities, one of them a Hezbollah member. Hezbollah members rushed to the scene, surrounded the truck, and tried to stop locals from approaching. On August 9, a Hezbollah truck loaded with weapons was passing through the village near Beirut on its way from Beqa when it overturned in front of a church. This week’s events in the Christian community of Kahaleh highlight the LAF’s priorities. Although there is a general understanding in Lebanon and Washington that the LAF will not go after Hezbollah, the army is still expected to protect the people from spikes in violence provoked by the group and to directly confront other armed elements (e.g., the Palestinian Islamist factions tied to recent clashes in Ain al-Hilweh, an issue that will be covered in future articles).
If this trend continues, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) will need to play a crucial role in preventing major escalation and protecting civilians. In recent weeks, a series of security incidents between Lebanon’s Maronite Christian community and Hezbollah have raised the possibility of increased domestic instability. Given the military’s behavior during a recent confrontation and the spike in Christian anger toward Hezbollah, Washington should consider fine-tuning its assistance to the LAF, cutting off units that are not committed to protecting the people.
0 kommentar(er)
