FPM supporters at a demonstration in downtown Beirut in front of the ESCWA building, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, on May 9, 2024. (Credit: João Sousa)
Catch up on yesterday’s LIVE coverage of Day 216 the Gaza war here.
With further houses, towns and fields struck by Israeli bombs, Hezbollah continued to claim cross-border strikes, retaliating with explosive drone attacks to Israel’s targeted assassination of three party members in Baflieh (South Lebanon). The party announced the deaths of three of its members — raising the number of Hezbollah members killed since Oct. 7 to 295, by L’Orient Today’s count – after a targeted drone strike on a car driving in Baflieh, east of Sour. The strike left a fourth person critically injured, according to L’Orient Today’s correspondent.
General Security raided and sealed businesses run by Syrians without proper authorization in Akkar, North Lebanon. The same day, hundreds of people joined a Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) demonstration in downtown Beirut’s Gibran Khalil Gibran square, calling for the repatriation of displaced Syrians in Lebanon “illegally,” one protester told L’Orient Today. Protesters also opposed a European Union aid package for Lebanon announced last week, interpreted by party chief Gebran Bassil as a bribe for Lebanon to continue hosting Syrians displaced by the more than decade-long civil war – a claim rejected by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. Last week, several Syrians were evicted from their homes in the region following the state’s claim that they were residing there illegally. The crackdowns come amid new restrictions targeting Syrians in Lebanon restricting their access to housing, work and official documents as the government sets plans for mass deportations. A day earlier, the security agency announced it was organizing new repatriation trips and ordered Syrians who entered Lebanon clandestinely to apply for entry authorization at border centers and to then leave the country while they await the processing of their requests.
Beirut’s deputy public prosecutor charged gas supplier NatGaz and both Pizza Secrets’ owner and manager for the deaths of nine people in a restaurant fire on April 30. The nine people died of suffocation after having been trapped in the back of the restaurant as the yet-unexplained fire raged and their only exit blocked. Beirut MP Paula Yacoubian underscored a lack of attention to public safety, joining caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi and Beirut Governor Marwan Abboud in calling for a criminal investigation of the incident. “The restaurant was newly opened. There is no excuse for it not having [an emergency] exit,” a Civil Defense member told L’Orient Today.
At least 34,904 people have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to the latest figures from the enclave’s Health Ministry. Israeli and Hamas delegations left Cairo yesterday with unreconciled cease-fire demands while Israel’s troops edged into the southernmost Gazan city, Rafah. The US, expressing concern over the more than 1 million Palestinians endangered by the looming invasion, said it would limit weapons transfers to Israel.
In case you missed it, here is our must-read story from yesterday: “Linguistic shifts and cultural preservation within Armenian identity in Lebanon”
Compiled by Abbas Mahfouz